


Space Family

by TransLunar



Series: Space Fam [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anxiety, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Insecurity, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Polyamory, Smut, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Trans Pidge | Katie Holt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:22:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9387062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TransLunar/pseuds/TransLunar
Summary: Lance goes through his first heat in space, and learns he has family and support in those around him, and possibly even more than that.





	1. Professor Holt

**Author's Note:**

> So I literally lost sleep because of the first two chapters of this. I just couldn't stop basically writing it in my head, so I got up and typed it up.
> 
> This fic is being beta-read by SecretScribbles and xthebrokenacex who are two of my bestest friends and cohorts in fandom. You should pop over to see if they have anything written that you'll like. (I know SecretScribbles has posted the first part of a collab we're doing together, if you want to check that out, it's Klance and a lot more slow burn than this one, lots of mutual pining, it's gonna be great.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with artwork! A quick sketch of Lance. It's at the end because formatting sucks ass.

Lance sat in the little corridor he’d found in a far corner of the castle, watching as stars and galaxies passed by the large windows. It was almost a 360 degree view and if he blurred his vision a bit, he could pretend he was drifting in the void of space with nothing to support him.

They’d been fighting Zarkon for about two months now, if Pidge’s home-made computer kept correct calculations based on their Earth time. His mom’s birthday just passed recently, and he felt more melancholy than usual. He was full of some pretty crazy emotions at the moment, and that alone was worrisome. He held a small foil packet in his hand, dropped limp between his knees where he sat. Inside it sat two small, round, white pills. He couldn’t look at them.

He closed his eyes when he heard footsteps approaching, accompanied by Hunk’s labored breathing.

“How did you even find this place, man?” his friend asked as he collapsed on the floor beside him. “What’s the problem? Why did you give me directions to this strangely unoccupied and uncharted part of the castle? Are you sick?”

Lance shook his head, and merely handed over the foil packet for his friend to inspect. There was silence for a while as Hunk took it and pondered over its meaning.

“How often are you taking them?”

“Every couple weeks,” Lance answered. “Usually. I’ve needed two this week alone. It’s gonna be a bad one.” Hunk sighed.

“We have to tell Allura and Coran the details then,” he said and Lance bit his lip. He knew they would have to have a human biology lesson, but he didn’t know if he was ready to have it yet. It looked like he didn’t have much of a choice.

“What about after that?” Lance asked. “Are you… still up for maybe helping me out? I mean… You have Shay to worry about too. I don’t know if you ever talked to her about it.”

“I hadn’t really, no,” Hunk said and sighed heavily. “But, honestly… If you need me to, I’m always here for you. But I think you should explore other options. We’re not on Earth anymore. There may be other things available to you here.”

“Or more restrictions,” Lance said, letting his head fall back against the wall with a thump. “Really, the only ones who could physically help out are you, Coran, Shiro, and Keith. Needless to say, you’re my first option. If only for the familiarity.”

“Lance,” Hunk said cautiously, as if Lance might react badly. He might. “You know, you aren’t really alone here like you were at the Garrison. I mean, yeah, you’re the only one on board who has to worry about it this much, but you know everyone here would be more than willing to help if they can. I’ll bet Coran will cook up an entire banquet just for you to eat when it’s over.”

Lance chuckled. Coran most likely would make more food than he could physically consume.

“It’s not that my mind doesn’t know this,” Lance said. “But I’m kind of scared. Of… of Shiro.” His body shuddered at the mere mention of the name and Lance hated the kind of shiver it was. “I know Shiro is the person I least need to worry about, but hormones suck ass.” Hunk chuckled.

“I get it,” he said. “I’m sure Shiro will understand too. He might already know. With how your emotions are acting, you probably smell like it already.” Lance groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Hey, maybe Pidge and I can work on manufacturing some more of these things with some of the substances we find in space. You could have intergalactic suppressants!” Lance laughed.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Part of me wants to get off of them anyways. They mess up my emotions way too much.” He sniffed, genuinely feeling better after talking about it and facing the realization of what has to happen. “I might finish off this pack just to hold the next one off as long as possible then slip into the abyss to just die,” he said dramatically, resting the back of a hand on his forehead and pretending to swoon onto Hunk’s shoulder. They both fell into a small giggle fit.

“If you’re sure, I guess that’s fine,” Hunk said after a couple minutes. “But I think we might work on it anyways, just in case you change your mind.”

“Thanks, Hunk.”

“Anything for you, buddy.” Lance stayed leaning against his best friend for a few more minutes before sighing and getting to his feet, stashing the foil packet into his back pocket.

“Let’s go get this over with, I guess.”

Lance and Hunk went about gathering the rest of the Paladins and convening in the main control room where Allura and Coran were running a couple tests on some systems.

“Ah! Good morning, Paladins!” Coran said when he noticed them entering. “Is… something amiss?” They did look pretty grim, walking in together, Hunk and Lance leading the group and pretty much everyone looking at Lance with mild concern. Lance himself looked like he might run away, so Hunk had an arm around his shoulders.

“Not really,” Hunk said. “But we all need to talk, and it might take a while.” Allura shut down the control panel to let the ship continue on autopilot and turned to face them completely.

“Should we sit down?” she asked.

“Yeah, let’s sit,” Lance said, rushing over to his chair and slumping into it. Everyone watched, and Allura was immediately worried. She peeked at the other Paladins.

“Is this a common human behavior?” she whispered.

“For Lance, yes,” Hunk said and made his way to his own chair. The others finally followed suit, most eyes never leaving Lance and it made the blue Paladin squirm in his seat with conflicting feelings. Once everyone was settled, Allura broke the silence.

“So? What’s going on?” she asked, looking back and forth between Lance and Hunk, since they seemed to know the most about what was happening. Lance seemed like a fish out of water, opening his mouth to begin speaking and unable to make sound, so he would close it again.

“Allura, Coran, how much do you know about human biology?” Hunk asked. Keith and Shiro visibly shifted in their seats, subconsciously leaning towards Lance. No one else probably noticed, but Lance could feel their presences very acutely. And he could smell Shiro, especially. Shiro finally had noticed what was happening. Lance gripped the armrest of his chair, sorely tempted to pop both of the pills sitting in his pocket, but he restrained himself.

“Well, we have a lot of the simple data from when Lance was in the cryopod,” Coran answered. “Like the layout of the internal organs and the information on internal body temperature and process speeds and heart rate-”

“Anything on chemical composition?” Hunk interrupted. “We’ve all been in a cryopod at least once. Were there any noted differences between the five of us?” Coran stroked his mustache as he thought.

“Nothing that I can recall,” he said. “I will say Lance seemed to be built a bit differently than the others, but you’re all different in one way or another, so I didn’t think much of it if he was healthy.”

“Built differently how?” Allura asked. She sounded offended that she wasn’t privy to this information. Coran made a sound as he thought of how to word it.

“It’s a bit difficult to explain,” he said. “Lance seems to have an extra… I don’t really know if it’s an organ or something else.” Lance’s breath hitched and he slammed his eyes shut.

“Well we can explain that,” Hunk said quickly. “But I just wanted to get a feel for how much you knew about it. Which is apparently nothing.” He sighed and stood, needing to walk around or he wouldn’t be able to get it all out.

“Humans have dynamics,” he began. “People are divided into different categories, so to speak. The first way people are divided is male and female, like most other species. Dynamics divide people into three groups: Alpha, Beta, and Omega. Betas are the most common. I’m one, myself. So is Keith. Pidge will most likely be one as well, but she’s not old enough to have presented yet. Maybe in a year or two. There’s not much special about Betas, so I won’t really go into details on us. Alphas are rare. Shiro is an Alpha. Alphas command a sort of natural authority. It has to do with our ancestors in evolution and a ton of stuff that doesn’t matter right now-”

“To put it simply,” Pidge interrupted, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, “Alphas are the leaders. They’re typically bigger and stronger than the general population. Would you like me to continue for you, Hunk?”

“If you’re volunteering, take it away,” Hunk said, returning to his seat to catch his breath. Pidge stood, looking everything like a school teacher despite her short stature.

“The rarest group is the Omega,” she said, glancing at Lance. “Lance happens to be one. Nowadays there isn’t much difference between the three groups because there’s less of a ‘protect the pack’ mentality, since humans are now the superior species on Earth. There are less natural predators to be afraid of. That being said, a major aspect of the dynamics revolved around breeding. All females are capable of conceiving, unless they are Alphas, but it is very difficult for all the necessary things to happen at the right times biologically.”

Lance had a thought that he should have asked Pidge to give this lesson from the beginning. For some reason, it wasn’t as personal coming from her mouth. It allowed him to detach himself from the topic at hand, at least for a bit.

“Along the same vein, all males are capable of impregnating, unless they are omegas, but there is again, a certain degree of difficulty. The most effective combination for conception is an Alpha and an Omega of any gender combination. Alphas are very likely to get someone pregnant within one or two attempts. Omegas get pregnant very easily as well. You will also see Alpha/Beta partnerships and Beta/Omega partnerships. Nowadays all are very valid relationships and based more on affection than procreation. Now, I’m fairly certain that the main topic of this talk is supposed to be about what is most likely happening with Lance at the moment. Am I correct?” She turned to Lance for confirmation and he could only nod his head to give her permission to continue.

“As a result of a pack mentality and an instinctual need to reproduce, Omegas go into what’s called a heat. Their hormones get all out of whack and basically all they can think about is making babies with an Alpha. I hear it’s not as intense for Omegas nowadays, with the use of suppressants and safe spaces to ride out their heats without having to make life-altering decisions like mating or bonding with someone they don’t actually want. But the event is still treacherous on the body. Normally, when an Alpha smells an Omega in heat it will send them into what’s called a rut, and the Alpha will be in not much better shape than the Omega. So, long story short, Lance is probably going to go into heat soon, and will be out of commission for up to a week, depending on its intensity.”

There was a resounding silence in the room as the Altaeans absorbed the information and processed it.

“This…” Allura began, still trying to collect her thoughts. “This is so…”

“Fascinating!” Coran breathed. “I have so many questions. So that extra organ inside Lance’s body is something like a womb?”

“Yes,” Pidge answered and now Lance felt like melting into the floor. The room was getting warm, probably because he was blushing and he could feel Shiro’s gaze on him. He crossed his arms and hunched his shoulders, as if it might help cover his scent glands more.

“Guys, maybe save it for later, okay?” Lance was kind of shocked to hear Keith’s voice. “I don’t think Lance is very comfortable right now.” Lance chanced a look at the red Paladin and immediately regretted it. His breath left him shakily. Keith’s gaze was as intense as any Alpha’s and his body was being so overrun by his hormones, he was beginning to feel overwhelmed, torn between wanting to whine to him and wanting to cry. He cleared his throat and stared determinedly at his feet.

“I think I’m just hungry. I’m going to go eat something,” he said, standing to his feet and not even caring that they all could see him dig his suppressants out of his pocket and down the last two before he was even out of the room. He didn’t go to the mess hall; instead he went straight to his bedroom. He stared at the ceiling willing his breathing to settle down.

Lance often hated being an Omega. He knew there wasn’t as much stigma around it as there used to be, but it didn’t make it easy. He hated being controlled by his heat. He hated the thought that he could make Shiro lose control without meaning to. He hated that it made him feel like his life revolved around sex. He didn’t know how long he laid there in self pity, but there eventually came a knock on his door. He made no move to answer.

“Lance, I know you’re in there,” came Keith’s voice. Lance went stiff, muscles tensing. Keith was an enigma to Lance. He was the epitome of a Beta. Lance could hardly even smell him, his scent was so subdued. It wasn’t uncommon, actually, but usually if someone’s scent was weak, their instincts were as well. For instance, Hunk had a hard time smelling other people’s dynamics unless an Alpha was rutting or an Omega was going into heat. As such, Lance only knew Hunk’s scent because of the rough times at the Garrison when Lance couldn’t leave their shared room and his senses were in overdrive and Hunk was right there.

But Keith seemed acutely aware of all of them. Lance had seen the way Keith looked at him sometimes. He even seemed to be aware of something about Pidge that none of the others could sense yet. He could only conclude that Keith had a very keen sense of smell, and it fit with his personality: instinct-driven. But Lance couldn’t smell Keith’s dynamic. It was unsettling.

“If you don’t open up I’m going to come inside anyways.” Lance sighed and stood, opening his door a crack.

“What?”

“I… Um…” Keith actually stuttered, like he’d lost his train of thought. Lance suspected his scent was getting stronger and looked at the floor, almost embarrassed that he was doing this to the others.

“Spit it out,” Lance said, not wanting to be around anyone except maybe Hunk. Soon, he wouldn’t trust himself with anyone else.

“You know what, nevermind,” Keith said, sounding extremely aggressive, causing Lance to flinch and turn his head in submission on instinct, barely aware of the small whine that left his throat. He was shaking, this time with mostly fear. He couldn’t believe he’d acted like that to Keith, of all people. An unthreatening Beta had made him present his neck as if he were an overbearing Alpha and it stopped them both in their tracks. Lance blushed bright and tried to close the door swiftly but a boot stepped into the doorway, stopping it.

Lance hid behind the door, even if it was still technically open and Keith could get in very easily. He tried to calm his breathing. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Keith’s face. He was afraid of what he’d see. Keith was scaring the Omega inside him but also exciting it. This was bad. He needed Hunk. There was one problem: Keith wasn’t leaving. He was just standing there with his foot in the doorway.

“What do you want?” Lance said, not even caring that he sounded like he was crying, because he certainly felt the need to cry at that moment. And then the foot was gone and the door fell shut with a click, making Lance gasp quietly as it moved with his weight. He could still feel Keith on the other side.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” Keith said. “I just-are you going to be okay?”

“Eventually, yeah,” Lance said. “I’ve had heats before. I can handle it.”

“Alone?”

Lance shivered at that, his instincts begging him not to go through it alone again.

“U-usually Hunk helps me out with most of the basic things,” he stuttered out. “Like water, food, and the more intense moments of it, but he’s mostly just emotional support.”

“Do you…” There was a pause and Lance held his breath through it. “Do you want… different help?”

“What does that even mean?”

“God, I don’t know,” Keith said and Lance could practically see him running his hand through his hair. “I’ve never… really known anyone well enough, but I feel like I want to help for some reason. I guess I don’t want to feel useless. You looked miserable earlier and I just… I hated that look on your face. You’re supposed to be the stupid goofy one.”

“Hey now,” Lance said, slightly offended, but he could see where Keith was coming from. He licked his lips. “Are you sure you’re a beta?”

“Fairly positive,” Keith said. “At least that’s what I’ve always been told. I’d never really paid much attention to it before. Can’t you tell by how I smell?”

“That’s the thing,” Lance said, getting a bit frustrated. “I can’t smell you.”

“Do you want to? Like, I could stick my arm in the door.” Lance almost laughed.

“You’re ridiculous,” he said quietly. But his curiosity was getting the better of him and he cracked open the door and there was Keith’s hand, stupid fingerless glove right where it always was. Lance leaned close to Keith’s wrist and sniffed. He couldn’t smell anything but the fabric. He made a small noise of irritation and tried to get closer. He raised a hesitant hand and held onto Keith’s to hold him still as he got even closer. Keith’s fingers twitched a little, probably because of Lance’s breath on his skin. Lance didn’t even smell anything until he was almost touching his nose to the inside of Keith’s wrist.

“I guess you really are a Beta,” he said, dropping Keith’s wrist. He didn’t know why he felt disappointed.

“You guess?”

“Well I dunno,” Lance said, leaning against the wall and looking at Keith through the crack in the door. “You smell kind of… neutral, I guess is the word for it. It’s not really definitive like other Betas I’ve come across, but there’s also nothing else it could really be.”

“Oh,” Keith said. Lance shifted under his gaze a bit, still unsure how he wound up with Keith outside his door. “So… is that a no?”

“A no to what?”

“To my offer to help.”

“Oh…. I suppose not,” he said. “Like… I would talk to Hunk… he could probably tell you better how to handle it… I normally would say no, but I feel like I’m putting too much on him, you know? I’ve been monopolizing him for the past couple years. He deserves a break from my emotional mess. Not to mention he’s kind of dating an alien rock lady. And this might be a problem with her.” Keith nodded in understanding.

“So, you’re not like… overly repulsed by my offer to help?” Lance chuckled.

“No,” Lance said. “Hunk helped me realize… you guys are here for me now. And despite how much I hate it, this is a part of me. I’m doing okay right now because I took the last of my suppressants, but it’s probably going to hit me full force in the next couple days. Maybe the three of us should get some sort of game plan together.” Keith nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “We should ask Coran if there’s a section of the castle that’s a bit airtight. I’m a little worried about Shiro. He says he’s fine, but we won’t know for sure until your heat sets in.” Lance felt guilty again, but tried not to linger.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he said.

“Are you okay to come to dinner?”

“I think so. What time is it?”

“Time for dinner,” came Hunk’s voice from the corner of the hallway. Lance opened the door wider to see him.

“Has it been that long?” Lance asked in disbelief and both Keith and Hunk nodded. “Wow. Hunk, how long have you been out there?”

“Long enough to figure out that you’re going to be a right princess in a few days with two Betas waiting on your needs,” Hunk teased. Both Lance and Keith blushed a little, avoiding eye contact.

“Well… guess that takes care of that conversation,” Lance said, beginning to exit his room and brush past Keith to follow Hunk to dinner.

Dinner was awkward for Lance, but apparently not for anyone else. Everyone was slightly on edge, but things seemed to be going on just fine. Shiro was polite and gave him his space, trying not to stare at him, even though his gaze slipped a few times. Lance didn’t blame him. Towards the end of dinner, Keith leaned over to Coran to ask about the section of the castle that they could use.

After dinner, the Altaean led them to a section closer to the medical wing that was apparently intended for medical quarantine. Lance thought it was quite fitting, if not a little ironic. The Betas helped Lance move in some of his things, including his bed, even gathering some extra blankets and pillows for when he would need them after. Lance often felt himself blushing into whatever he was carrying as the two helped him, his inner Omega preening at the attention.

Hunk was the one who had the idea to move some shower curtains to cover the observation window for some privacy and Lance would thank him for it later. Coran showed them how the intercom system worked for when they would need food or if they would need help. By the time they were finished, it was late and they all needed some sleep. Lance sat down on the bed and looked around at the work they’d done, deeming it comfortable enough to pass a heat in.

“Thanks, you guys,” he said. “It looks pretty great.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay tonight?” Hunk asked. “It’s been a couple of months, man. Something’s going to happen sooner rather than later.”

“I should be fine. It’s one night,” Lance said.

“We’ll check on you in the morning, then,” Hunk said, almost having to drag keith out of the room. Lance found it oddly endearing. Keith hadn’t wanted to leave, and Lance understood if this was the first time Keith had witnessed a friend going into a heat. Hunk had been the same way, and still was to an extent, but Hunk knew him now.

About six hours later, Lance regretted telling them to leave.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to know who the reference is, either find it on my tumblr at http://sangtaedubu.tumblr.com/post/159139369483/realistic-paladins-keith-shiro-lance-for-use  
> or ask in the comments and I can just tell you.


	2. Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith seeks advice and, as per usual, dives into something he's not really prepared for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I updated the tags on the fic accordingly, and will continue to do so as the story progresses.
> 
> I've gotten so much good feedback and I honestly don't know what to say. You guys are amazing. I hope you enjoy the update!
> 
> UPDATE: Now with artwork! Check the end!

Keith honestly didn’t know what to do. He was out of his element and it made him so uncomfortable he felt like hiding. The only person he’d ever really been close to was Shiro, and Shiro had amazing control over his dynamic, so it was almost like their dynamics didn’t exist between the two of them. He had literally never interacted with anyone else in such a close proximity.

He followed Hunk towards the usual rooms and the other Beta ushered him inside so they could talk. Once he walked through the door, he was overwhelmed, carding his hands in his hair and groaning.

“Oh my god, what did I do?” he asked himself out loud, turning to Hunk. “Was that weird of me to do? To offer to help him? I feel like it was weird. I’m weird. I have no idea what I’m doing.” Hunk just looked amused. Keith scoffed a little and sat down in a chair, waiting for what he assumed would be like a school lesson. Hunk just sat down on the edge of his bed.

“Look, man, I get it,” he said. “I went through the same thing my first semester with Lance at the Garrison. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. At least you have me to help you.”

“I honestly don’t know if that’s supposed to be encouraging,” Keith said. “I’ve never even thought about helping someone through something like this before.”

“I’m trying to figure out why you’re so nervous,” Hunk said.

“Well-heats are very… sexual, right? I’ve never… had sex…,” Keith admitted.

“Well, neither have I. Neither has Lance,” Hunk said. “You thought you would have to have sex with him? Oh, no, Keith, we don’t have to do that.” He gave a little chuckle, and Keith was just confused, so he let Hunk continue. “It’s a very sexual experience for Lance, but what he really needs from us is someone kind of set apart from it. It is kind of easy to get lost in it when he’s like that, but he won’t force you to do anything either. You just have to be firm with him, no pun intended.” Keith flushed furiously at the comment.

“So, we basically just keep him sated while he jacks off for a few days?” he asked, still confused. Hunk made a sound akin to a groan while wiggling a hand in the air.

“Kind of,” he said. “You’ll probably have to help him out a little bit when he gets too frustrated or tired, but you shouldn’t have to use anything other than your hands. And I found the biggest part of it was in the in-between times, when he has a bit of a break to cool down and breathe. He needs a lot of cuddles and stuff like that. He gets very clingy and whiny. It’s kind of cute.”

“I guess I’m still having a hard time imagining what it’s going to be like,” Keith said.

“Oh, trust me: nothing can prepare you for a Lance in heat,” Hunk said. “You just gotta go with it. Most of it is spur-of-the-moment decision-making anyways. There’s really only two rules that Lance has: no mating, and no bonding. I have my own boundaries set up with him and amazingly, he still respects them even in heat. Sure he’ll try to talk me out of some of them, but he just sulks when I say ‘no’. So if he tries to do something you’re uncomfortable with, just tell him ‘no’ and you should be good. Now, if you find yourself too caught up in it, you are allowed to leave the room for a while. He’s not going to die if he’s by himself for a few minutes.” Keith’s mouth felt dry and he swallowed, fidgeting with a loose string on one of his gloves.

“Okay,” he said. “I think I’ll be fine.”

“Honestly, I think Lance is pretty lucky to be on a ship with this combination of people. Everyone is pretty great.”

“I guess.”

“Look, man,” Hunk began, “after this heat cycle, Lance is out of suppressants. His heats are going to happen fairly often from now on. Frankly, you and I are the only ones who can really help him out during these times. At least until he finds someone to bond with, and it looks like that’s going to take a very long time. You know, since we’re kind of stuck protecting the universe and all that. So, I actually want to say thanks, man. Lance probably won’t show his appreciation as adequately as he should, because he’s a dumbass.” Keith laughed at that.

“He really is,” he agreed. “And, I honestly don’t know why I even offered. I just hated seeing him so distressed.”

“I think it’s a dynamic thing,” Hunk said. “Alphas feel that pull to protect Omegas very strongly, but Betas also feel it. I felt the same way. Trust me; what you feel is normal.”

Keith highly doubted he was doing anything right. He’d always felt out of place, but nothing was actually wrong with him. He bid his farewells to Hunk and left the room, heading towards the training deck.

As expected, Shiro was training in hand-to-hand against the gladiator. Keith watched him as he waited for the sequence to end and his heart fluttered a little. As Shiro wiped his forehead between rounds, he noticed he was being watched. He turned off the program and came over to the Beta.

“Keith,” he said, breathing heavily from his training. Keith had found him here many times when he couldn’t sleep, and soon discovered that Shiro was here practically every night, staying much later than he should have.

“Hey,” he whispered once Shiro was close enough. “How are you holding up?”

“With what?”

“The scent,” Keith clarified. “It’s still pretty potent in the mess hall and in some of the hallways. I’m not sure when it will clear out through the ventilation system.” Keith watched as Shiro shifted on his feet and avoided his eyes.

“I’m fine, Keith,” he said a bit sternly and Keith could feel the urge to submit rush through his veins. Shiro was an Alpha, even if he was gentle and caring. “I’ve been around Omegas in heat before and not been affected.”

“Yes, but you have to live with this one,” Keith insisted. “I don’t want to have to see you both quarantined.” Shiro finally met his eyes.

“You offered to help him?”

Keith bristled, almost afraid. “I did.”

Shiro nodded. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Keith said. “Maybe something akin to pity.”

“Pity doesn’t suit you,” Shiro said, reaching up to shift something in Keith’s hair, causing the Beta’s eyes to close. He and Shiro had flirted around each other so much before Kerberos, and it seemed old habits died hard. They’d recently worked back up to their previous flirting. Keith could smell him, warm and familiar in the air. The scent was slightly duller than he remembered from back on Earth, but he knew why. Shiro had lost one of his scent glands while prisoner, his right arm gone forever. Keith knew better than to bring it up.

“You want to help him too,” Keith said matter-of-factly. “Not just because you’re an Alpha, but because you’re Shiro.” There was a small tug at the corner of Shiro’s lips as they studied each other’s faces. “Are you mad?”

“Mad at what?”

“That I offered to help him,” Keith clarified. “That I’m going to help him.”

“Not mad,” Shiro said after a moment. “Maybe a little jealous, but not mad.” Keith’s lips quirked.

“Which one of us are you jealous of?” He knew it was a trick question; that Shiro’s mind and his body were fighting each other.

“Both.” Keith was a little surprised there was no hesitation or conflict.

“Oh,” was all he was able to manage.

“Keith, yes, Lance’s heat is kind of distracting,” Shiro began. “It’s definitely got my mind on certain things. But it involves more than just an Omega in heat.” He stepped closer and Keith started to go cross-eyed to keep him in focus. Eventually he had to look away, as Shiro brought a hand to the back of his neck to pull him close, the Alpha’s lips settling on his forehead.

Keith’s pulse raced. He didn’t know what to do with his hands. Luckily, Shiro didn’t linger and pulled back.

“I want you.” Keith stopped breathing as the words hit his ears. “And I want you to know that I want you. You know it, right?” Keith nodded, unable to form a response. Shiro smiled a little. “And I love you. You know that too, right?” He nodded again. “What if I told you I want Lance too?” Keith’s shoulders hunched and he took a step back, not sure what to think. It wasn’t uncommon for Alphas to take more than one mate, but it was becoming rarer. “I’m not sure if it’s the same kind of want, or even if I love him. But I wanted to let you know in case something develops there.”

Shiro took a step back to give Keith a bit of space. Keith chewed on his lip as his brain went into overdrive. It was a lot to process.

“No, I-I get it,” Keith said. He brought his eyes to meet Shiro’s. “I think I might want him too.” Shiro’s eyebrows raised, a little bit surprised. “I mean-I want both of you. I love you, I always have. So… I guess I feel the same way.”

“Then why don’t we wait until Lance can make a coherent decision and see how he feels about it,” Shiro suggested. Keith nodded and licked his lips. He saw Shiro’s eyes train on his lips and he flushed. After a moment, he spoke.

“Are you gonna kiss me or what?”

It started off slow and sweet. Shiro’s scent was overwhelming Keith’s nose, and he could hear the Galra-made arm whirring slightly as he was held by the back of his neck. His hands slid onto Shiro’s hips and he took a step forward, leg going naturally between the ones in front of him. They pulled back about a centimeter for breath.

“Can I scent mark you?”

Keith moaned a little at the suggestion. “What about Lance?”

“It might help if he can smell an Alpha. Maybe even give the illusion that there’s one there to help soothe his heat.”

“Oh to hell with it, I want it. If Lance doesn’t like it, Hunk can help him.”

And Shiro was all over him, rubbing their necks together roughly, his scent flooding the room, making Keith gasp and clutch at the fabric of his shirt. Keith’s heart was racing. This was the most intimate thing he’d ever done, and it was as he was preparing to be a different kind of intimate with someone else. Shiro covered Keith’s forearms with his scent and they both knew it was going to be there for at least a few days. As he slowed down, Shiro brought Keith’s palm to his lips and kissed it through the fabric of his glove, making the Beta chuckle.

“Should I do it too?” he asked, wondering if that was proper etiquette. Shiro smiled at him.

“It’s fine,” he said, pressing a kiss to each of Keith’s fingers, making him flush darker. “I’m not sure if your scent would even be noticeable over mine.” Keith was a little sad, but he understood. He’d never had a very strong smell, and Betas didn’t typically scent mark their mates for that very reason. “It’s enough that everyone knows you’re mine.” keith nuzzled up into Shiro’s neck, wanting his scent to fill him completely.

“Lance is probably going to smell like you too,” Keith said without really thinking. His skin tingled when he felt Shiro growl softly in his chest and Shiro held him surprisingly gently.

“I’m counting on it.”

They said their goodnights soon after, Shiro insisting that Keith needed adequate rest to prepare for dealing with Lance. Keith didn’t sleep well, despite how much Shiro’s scent calmed him. His arms and neck itched, but he focused on not scratching it. He didn’t want to mess with the scent, and figured it was just because his skin wasn’t used to having someone else’s hormones on it.

The itch was gone by morning, and Keith had gotten all of three hours of sleep. He didn’t feel too bad, considering, but he was up much earlier than anyone else. He paused outside of Hunk’s room, debating waking him up to come check on Lance with him. He decided against it, thinking Lance was probably asleep as well.

Keith made his way to the quarantined room as the castle hummed around him. He raised a wrist up to his nose, even though he didn’t need to in order to smell Shiro on him, and he smiled. He could only hope it helped Lance as well. As he approached, he could tell something was unusual. The lights were on inside the room and as Keith approached the door, he wondered if Lance was sleeping with them on.

He pressed a button on a monitor beside the door and gasped as the video feed flickered to life. Lance was kneeling on the floor beside the bed, one hand grasping at the sheets. He was in his pajamas and from the angle the camera was positioned in, Keith couldn’t tell if he was moving or not. He turned on the audio feed and he could hear Lance breathing and whining.

Keith checked the time, thinking it was still awfully early for Hunk to be awake. He debated until he heard Lance cry in a way that Keith could only think of as pain. Closer study of the video feed made it apparent that Lance’s other hand was down the front of his pajama bottoms. Keith let out a slow breath and pushed the button so Lance could hear him.

“Lance?” He watched as Lance’s head lifted and he looked around, towards the door.

“K-Keith?” He groaned and attempted to stand, able to make it to sit on the bed.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Lance practically deflated with relief, one hand resting awfully close to the bulge in his pants and the other combing through his hair. “How are you doing?”

“Um, okay I guess,” Lance said. “Still in the beginning part of the heat. Talking seems to be enough to distract me.”

“Does it?” Keith asked with a slight smirk as Lance’s hand rubbed himself through the fabric. Lance let out a wary chuckle.

“I guess not. Are you going to come in? Where’s Hunk?”

“He’s still asleep. It’s early.” Lance pouted.

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I couldn’t. Lance, I have something to tell you, and I need you to answer as clearly as you can, okay?”

“Are you backing out?”

“No. Not unless you want me to.”

“Why would I want you to?”

“I smell like Shiro.” Lance’s movements on his crotch stilled.

“W-what?”

“Shiro… scent marked me.” Lance processed the words and slumped back against the pile of pillows at the head of the bed.

“I see.”

“He just got a little jealous.”

“Are you mates?”

“...Not yet.” Lance was absolutely pouting now.

“I don’t want to break you guys up.”

“Lance, you won’t break us up.”

“But you’re basically his. You shouldn’t be around an Omega in heat when he’s waiting for you.”

“Lance, it’s all right.”

“No, it isn’t. I’ll just wait for Hunk.” Keith sighed.

“Lance. Your body wants an Alpha, right?” Lance was silent, only slightly squirming with the discomfort of his arousal. “His scent might help ease your heat.” Lance was being stubborn and not responding. “If that’s your only reason to turn me away, I’m going to come in.” He waited for a moment before opening the door and stepping inside, letting it seal behind him.

It took a matter of seconds for Lance to smell Shiro in the room and his body shuddered. He buried his face in the pillow in an attempt to get rid of it, but he couldn’t stop from offering his neck in submission. That was twice in about eight hours that Lance had bared himself like that to Keith.

“Are you okay?” Keith asked and Lance shivered as he nodded. “Do you need anything?” He shook his head this time, actually rolling over so he was facing away from Keith. Keith didn’t know what else to do, so he sat in a chair sort of close to the bed and watched. He felt a little like he was intruding, but this was what he had agreed to.

The first time Lance actually moved substantially, Keith was almost startled. The Omega’s arm shifted and Keith could only guess that he was finally moving it against himself for some relief. The smell of it was excessive, almost sickeningly sweet in Keith’s nose, and the mix of it with Shiro’s scent made his head swim from time to time. He could only describe it as making him feel high.

Keith was honestly impressed with how quiet Lance was being. He assumed that wouldn’t last, and he was right. About a half hour after he arrived, Lance whined and let his arm slump, going still. Keith didn’t smell any additional fluids so he guessed Lance must have just gotten tired. The Omega squirmed, rolling onto his stomach and dry humping the mattress.

Keith bit his lip, feeling very out of his element. Was he supposed to just sit here and watch someone he’d only really known for a few months grind into his bed? It felt kind of wrong, yet he never felt the urge to leave. If anything, he wanted to watch more. He was tempted to get up and walk around, to look at Lance’s face, at what his hands were doing. Maybe that was normal.

Then Keith’s nose was bombarded with that sweet smell so intensely that he lost Shiro’s scent for a while. He almost coughed, but pushed it down because Lance also started to get more desperate. He tugged at his clothes, halfheartedly attempting to pull them off. Keith sighed and stood, coming over to lift Lance’s shirt up over his head for him. Lance practically cooed at him, arching out across the bed and raising his hips while tugging at the waistband of his pants until Keith pulled those off too, going ahead and bringing his underwear down with them.

That was when Keith identified the source of the sweetness. Lance was dripping with what could only be slick. Keith wasn’t familiar with anything remotely like it, but he had basic knowledge. He busied himself with setting Lance’s discarded clothing aside neatly, suddenly embarrassed to look.

He decided to start being on the lookout for Hunk’s arrival, turning his chair toward the observation window and parting the curtain just a crack so Lance still had privacy but Keith could see when Hunk would come into the area. He hoped it would be easier with someone else here with him, at least until he knew what he was doing.

The minutes ticked by and Keith kept being distracted by the noises from the bed. He tried not to look, but the moment he caved was the end of him. He glanced over his shoulder at a particularly loud whine from the Omega, only to be greeted with the sight of him on his knees, ass in the air, and a finger sliding in and out of his hole, shiny with slick. Keith gasped and turned back toward the window.

“Fuck,” he whispered, feeling the first pangs of his own arousal. Hunk couldn’t get here soon enough. Lance was only getting louder. At least it seemed that way to Keith. He kept thinking about the conversation he’d had with Shiro. They both wanted each other and Lance. He might have been able to doubt those feelings a few weeks ago, but the onset of Lance’s heat had only solidified it in his mind and heart. Perhaps Shiro was the same. He was only glad that it didn’t really change anything between him and the Alpha.

He sighed as the idea began to solidify in his mind. The longer he imagined it, the more it seemed tangible and actually possible. He just didn’t know how Lance would react to it. But for now, he was going to be there for him when he needed him, even if he was growing uncomfortable in his own clothing.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now you will learn that I am a slut for Shklance. Ain't even gonna beat around the bush there.
> 
> If you want to know who the reference for Keith is, you can find it at http://sangtaedubu.tumblr.com/post/159139369483/realistic-paladins-keith-shiro-lance-for-use  
> or just comment and ask. :D


	3. I Can't Believe it's not Bacon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro is in protective Alpha mode but has to deal and stay away from both people he wants to fuss over. Bacon helps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with artwork! Scroll to the end to see Shiro. ;)  
> (though honestly I'm not that happy with how it turned out but oh well I've already proven I'm a lazy ass.)

Shiro woke at what he thought was an early hour, plagued by nightmares he couldn’t remember upon awakening. This wasn’t unusual for him, so he just stretched and went about getting ready. He stopped by Keith’s room first, wanting to see the Beta before he went to help Lance, but there was no answer. He figured Keith was probably just anxious about Lance and had gotten up early as well.

Shiro went about his usual routine, doing general warmups and stretches on the training deck until breakfast. The castle was unusually quiet to him, even though nothing really should have made a difference. He was stepping into the dining hall just as Coran was bringing out breakfast.

“Good morning, Shiro!”

“Good morning, Coran,” Shiro responded, taking his seat. “It smells great. What is it?”

“It’s something I’m working on getting ready for Lance to try,” Coran said, actually looking rather pleased with himself. “I figured he would be more comfortable with flavors he’s used to on Earth. Hunk gave me some suggestions and tips. This is supposed to be swine!”

“Swine?… It kind of smells like bacon, if that’s what you mean,” Shiro said. “Pig meat can have different tastes depending on what part of the pig it comes from and how it’s cooked.”

“Ah yes, bacon,” Coran said, snapping his fingers as if Shiro had reminded him of what the food was supposed to be. “Hunk said it was the most versatile food on Earth.”

“I don’t know if I would go that far, but it is very common,” Shiro said, taking his first bite. He cocked his head to the side and set the spoon down gently, clearing his throat. “That’s-” He coughed. “Tastes a lot different than it smells.” Coran actually slouched. He’d been so determined.

“I guess it’s back to the kitchen for me,” he said. “You said the smell was close, though?”

“Yeah, the smell was almost spot on,” Shiro said. “I guess just try to find something that tastes how that one smells?”

“I can do that,” Coran said, slicking his hair back, only to have one little part of it spring back into his face. “In the meantime, I guess you’ll have to stick with the regular food goo.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Shiro said and went to get some. He had just filled a bowl when Hunk entered.

“Shiro, there you are,” he said, coming over. “Have you seen Keith?”

“I assumed he’d already gone to see Lance,” Shiro said. “He wasn’t in his room when I went to talk to him this morning.”

“That’s weird,” Hunk said. “Lance shouldn’t really need anyone at the moment. At least he said he felt fine last night.” He was quiet for a moment before his face dropped and he sighed. “That idiot. His heat probably started in the middle of the night and now Keith is most likely sitting in there with no idea what to do. I’m gonna go bring them breakfast and save your boyfriend.”

Shiro blushed and stuttered at that. “Wh-My what now?”

“What? You think no one sees how you and Keith look at each other?” Hunk said, almost exasperated as he pulled several bowls onto a tray. “You guys are kind of obvious.”

“How long have you thought this?”

“Like, since day one,” Hunk said. “Once we got through our first battle with the Galra it was like the stray looks suddenly changed into blatant ogling. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t marked him in some way.”

“Was I really that obvious?”

Hunk just threw him a sympathetic smile. Shiro sighed.

“Well, I guess you kind of get your wish,” he said. “I scent marked him. I thought it might help out with Lance. Having an Alpha’s scent might make it a little easier on him.”

Hunk blinked at him. “Wow, you’re probably right. I hadn’t thought of that. But it could also upset him, if he thinks Keith is yours. I guess Keith is stubborn enough to not let that deter him, though.”

Shiro chuckled. “That he is. You should probably hurry. Lance is most likely hungry, if he’s been in heat since before I noticed Keith was gone this morning.”

“Right,” Hunk said, carrying the tray with five bowls of food goo towards the door. “Well, I might pop by again at lunch. We have the intercom connected to the main control room if we need anything.”

“Right-o!” Coran said, poking his head out of the kitchen. “Allura should be in there as soon as breakfast is over, and I have a headset connected to it too, so I can hear the intercom from the kitchen.”

“Ooh, are you working on the bacon?”

Coran made a face that said his current experiment was rather unsavory. “Trying.”

“I’m sure you can do it, Coran.” Hunk waved his last farewell and left. Shiro stirred his food goo around absently. Allura came in, asking how things were going. He managed through small talk while his brain was going at full speed, and soon enough she was going about her own duties. Shiro left to find Pidge and make sure she wasn’t forgetting to eat again.

His thoughts were filled with a certain feisty Beta. He still couldn’t really fathom that he’d kissed Keith last night, let alone scent marked him. He almost thought he dreamed it until he’d been standing outside Keith’s door, and he could smell it. He reminded himself that his dreams are never pleasant, so it must have actually happened.

He thought about Hunk’s words and smiled. He guessed if he and Keith had been so obvious, then it really was bound to happen. He’d had his doubts, after he’d been captured and held prisoner for a year, that things would have changed too much. And Shiro knew he had changed, but Keith hadn’t. It was kind of like having an anchor to keep himself stable at his core while reality shifted around him.

He found Pidge in the lab, as expected. She looked up as he walked in, giving him a very scrutinizing eye.

“Thinkin’ ‘bout Keith?”

Shiro sighed. “Does _everybody_ know?”

“Pretty much,” Pidge said a bit smugly. “Everyone except Lance, because he’s oblivious.”

“Well he probably knows now,” Shiro said, coming closer to peek at what she’d been working on. “I scent marked Keith before he went to help Lance with his heat.”

“Are you serious?” Pidge asked. “That’s kind of an abrupt way to tell him, don’t you think?”

“Well, I feel like Lance is used to finding things out like that, since he’s so oblivious to pick up on the more subtle hints.”

“True,” Pidge turned back to her computer. “Was there something you needed?”

“No, but you should probably go eat something. You weren’t at breakfast.”

“It’s morning already?”

“Yeah,” Shiro ruffled her hair with a chuckle. “I figured you got lost in your work.”

Pidge sighed. “Yeah. I’ve been looking at the data from when Lance was in the cryopod to see if I can manufacture suppressants, or even just something to help him ease through a heat. I don’t have enough information on the chemical composition of his hormones.” She gave him a sly look. “Do you think you could talk Keith into collecting some samples for me?”

Shiro sighed. “It depends on what kinds of samples you are referring to.”

“Like a cotton swab with some of his scent on it,” she clarified. “Even some spit would work. I would have a field day with some slick or semen, but that seems rather rude to straight up ask for, so I’ll wait and see if the other samples don’t turn up any results.”

“Oh, god, forget I asked,” Shiro said, turning around and heading for the door. “If you want samples, go ask Hunk. You’re probably safe to go down there as long as you stay out of the room.” He turned back to her and pointed in her direction. “And no peeking at the monitor. Not only is it a very private time for Lance, but it’s also highly inappropriate for someone your age to witness.”

Pidge rolled her eyes and waved him on, but he stayed until she answered, fixing her with a firm gaze. “Fine. I promise not to look.”

“I’m holding you to that,” he said and continued on his way. “And go eat breakfast!”

The rest of Shiro’s time was spent working out and training while worrying about Lance and Keith. Hunk was with them, so they should be all right. Shiro supposed it was his inner Alpha that was worrying so much. By the time lunch rolled around he found himself in the kitchen helping Coran make something akin to a smoothie.

The bloato fruit they’d picked up from the last space mall they’d visited smelled and tasted similar to pineapples, and Shiro thought they would make a nice, cool treat for the Omega and Betas.

“You know, it’s unusual for you to show interest in the kitchen,” Coran said as they mixed things together.

“I think it’s an Alpha thing,” Shiro said. “I have people I want to take care of right now. Normally it’s just a strict way to treat an Omega post-heat if you’re a couple. But Lance isn’t my Omega. Still, he is part of my team, so I feel the need to take care of him.”

“It’s almost motherly,” Coran noted and Shiro chuckled in agreement. “What was Hunk talking about with scent marking? Is that some sort of claim staking?”

“A little,” Shiro admitted. “An Alpha will mark an Omega to make sure other Alphas know they’re off limits. Friends will also do it in a platonic sense, to keep unwanted attention away. It’s not as prominent as it used to be. Not many people get into fights over Omegas anymore, but it used to be brutal.”

“Yes, but Keith is a Beta, is he not?”

Shiro cleared his throat. “Yeah, it doesn’t have to be an Alpha and Omega pair. It still has similar effects. Mostly it’s instinctual to do it, so even if it doesn’t serve a practical purpose anymore, it still… feels really good to know that he smells like me, I guess.”

Coran chuckled with his own sort of joke.

“Coran, does the castle have any…” he trailed off.

“Any what?”

“Nevermind,” Shiro said, shaking his head as he lifted the spoon to his lips to taste their concoction. “I think this is good. Can we chill it?”

“‘Can we chill it?’” Coran repeated with a smirk. “I can have it frozen solid in less than two ticks!”

“Let’s go for more of a half-frozen temperature,” Shiro said with a polite smile at the Altean’s enthusiasm.

Shiro made his way closer to the quarantined room with a tray holding three smoothies. He sighed before hitting the microphone button, purposefully ignoring the button to turn on the video feed.

“Everybody okay in there?” he asked and he could hear some light noise and a hushing sound. Hunk came over the intercom.

“Shiro? What are you doing down here?”

“I made smoothies. Well, Coran made smoothies and I made sure they didn’t taste… questionable. I thought the cold might help.”

“Hold on a sec.”

Shiro could hear Hunk mumbling and some practically whispered responses. Next thing he knew, Keith was slipping through the door, closing it behind him. Shiro cleared his throat at the scent that wafted through and took a deep breath, huffing out as his eyebrows rose.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Keith said almost sheepishly. “You know there’s an intercom system. Hunk or I could have come pick up the smoothies.”

“But then I wouldn’t have an excuse to come check up on you,” Shiro said with a smile.

“On me or on Lance?” Keith said, but he returned the smile. “He’s doing okay right now. It’s in the first lull, so he’s half asleep. Hunk says it’s only going to get worse, though. So seriously, try to stay away from this part of the castle, okay? I’m worried you’ll go into rut.”

“If I do, I have you to take care of me,” Shiro said, leaning forward for a kiss, but he’d forgotten there was a tray in his hands and it pushed into his stomach, keeping them apart. They both chuckled.

“As fun as that sounds, it would still put you out of commission, and we’re already sitting ducks with Lance like this,” Keith said quietly. “I also… kind of want our first time to be a bit more romantic.” Shiro could feel himself blushing at the words, unable to keep his mind from picturing it.

Except the scent that was floating all around him was Lance’s, and so his thoughts were full of the Omega as well. He cleared his throat and handed the tray over.

“They’re probably going to melt into juice soon,” he said.

“Thank you.” Keith moved the tray to one hand, holding it like a waiter and reaching the other hand to pull Shiro down for a kiss. They nuzzled each other for a moment before Keith slid back into the room.

Shiro waited for his head to clear a little before returning to his duties. He spent the rest of the day helping Allura catalogue the distress signals the castle was detecting. Most of them were centuries old and the planets no longer even inhabitable, so those got catalogued and deleted. Others were put on a list for them to investigate, sorted by distance from their current location.

Allura had questions about the dynamics as well, but she was more polite about it and gave him free reign to refuse to answer. Talking with her all but confirmed that everyone knew he and Keith were a thing, even before they were an “official” thing. For some reason he found himself explaining his thoughts about Lance as well, and she was honestly surprised.

“Polyamorous relations were not unheard of on Altea,” she said. “But most people saw it as a very selfish thing. Father always said if all parties involved were being treated fairly, it should not matter. I actually witnessed a wedding of four individuals. A member of the court had two wives and a husband and they all looked as happy as any other couple on their wedding day. However, if you don’t mind my saying, I have not really witnessed any special attachment between you and Lance. I do not mean to insinuate that it is not there; I merely wish you to be certain that you are thinking clearly. Pidge mentioned that an Omega’s heat can affect an Alpha at an instinctual level.”

“I understand where your concerns come from,” Shiro said. “It’s more like I’ve had an emotional attraction to Lance for about a month or so. Emotional attraction is easier to hide than physical, I think. Keith and I went past the emotional attraction back before I was captured by Zarkon. We were friends on Earth and had begun to tread into physical attraction territory.”

“And now that Lance’s heat has set in, the physical attraction has spread to include him as well,” Allura concluded.

“Essentially, yes,” Shiro confirmed. “I want to make sure he’s comfortable though, so we won’t try to talk to him about a relationship until he’s passed his heat, and we’ll take it slow. It won’t affect Voltron, I promise.”

Allura gave a bit of a knowing smile. “Oh, I trust it won’t affect Voltron. At least not negatively.” Shiro passed her a suspicious look. He had a feeling she was having too much fun with the situation, but he wouldn’t push it.

As their conversations flitted from topic to topic, Shiro was constantly thinking of both Lance and Keith. Was Lance being cared for? He obviously was, but Shiro couldn’t help but want to confirm it. Was Keith holding up? Surely he would have called on the intercom if he couldn’t handle it.

Hunk actually came to the kitchen to fetch dinner for them and Shiro had the opportunity to ask.

“Keith’s doing great, actually,” Hunk informed him. “And your scent seems to be helping a lot, too.” Shiro visibly sighed in relief. “It kind of feeds that inner Omega. He says it makes everything a bit more satisfying and gives him more of a break before it builds up again.”

“Thank you for taking care of them both,” Shiro said, resting a hand on Hunk’s shoulder with a smile. “I’ve been a little paranoid about it. Alpha protector instincts and all that.”

“I totally understand,” Hunk said. “I’ll try to message in more updates on the intercom for you, if that would help.”

“It actually would,” Shiro said happily. “Might keep me from wandering down there again. That was… intense.”

“Yeah, I had Pidge put up a checkpoint a couple hallways away from us,” Hunk said, giving Shiro a pointed look that said he wasn’t pleased with the Alpha’s decision to visit them earlier. “It senses Galra tech, so the door won’t even open for you. But one of us wouldn’t mind coming there and giving you an update at that distance.” Shiro actually felt a little ashamed.

“I don’t know if that was necessary,” he said. “But I understand. Oh, did Pidge ask you about samples, or something?”

Hunk laughed. “Yeah, she’s up to her usual shenanigans. I got her a spit sample, but I’m not really up for invading Lance’s space enough to get hormones. Poor guy’s got enough on his plate right now without us poking and prodding him.”

“Good. I was a little worried,” Shiro admitted. “Pidge doesn’t seem to have the same sense of personal space that the rest of us do, and since she hasn’t presented yet, she doesn’t quite pick up on the usual dynamic cues on what’s appropriate and what’s not. Especially when she wants something.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Hunk said, then turned toward the door to the kitchen. “Do you smell that?”

Shiro took a whiff. “Coran has been working on recreating the bacon flavor all day. It smelled like bacon earlier, but it tasted kind of like burnt rubber.”

“Well, let’s see if I can go help him out any,” Hunk said, sauntering off toward the source of the smell.

“Wait, what about-” Shiro tried, but the door had already closed and he could hear Hunk and Coran already diving into a discussion about alien goo. He propped the door open and leaned against the frame, blatantly refusing to taste any of their attempts at bacon.

It looked like Coran had moved from simply flavor to trying to recreate the texture too, with Hunk’s help. Unfortunately, the color was always a bit too neon.

“I think this is our best one yet!” Hunk said, shoving a sickeningly bright red piece of gelatinous space-bacon-jerky in his face. Shiro guided his hand away with a slightly disgusted face.

“I don’t want your Beggin’ Strips.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you'd like to know who the reference for Shiro is, you can find it at http://sangtaedubu.tumblr.com/post/159139369483/realistic-paladins-keith-shiro-lance-for-use  
> or ask in a comment!


	4. Kiss Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance likes kissing. A lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter (like barely more than half the previous chapters' length) and I apologize. I was late with starting it and even later with getting it to my beta readers. So I hope the fact that it's smut will make up for the length. ;)

Lance drifted in and out of consciousness, trying to get some sleep after the long day he’d suffered. He vaguely registered someone leaving the room, and Hunk’s voice mentioning dinner, so he assumed the Yellow Paladin had gone to fetch some food goo. He took a deep breath and buried his face deeper into the pillow, tugging the blanket around his shoulders.

 

These lulls in his heat were the rare moments when he could use the blanket and actually cover himself a little. He was still embarrassed by his display (in front of Keith, of all people), but he knew it couldn’t be helped. He relaxed as Shiro’s scent wafted over him. He still had his doubts about Keith being here, but Keith had assured him that he’d spoken with Shiro beforehand and that they had reached a mutual decision.

 

Not that he could have deterred Keith anyways. And he hated to admit that it really was helping, having an Alpha’s scent around him. But his body wanted the scent _on_ him, and he wouldn’t let himself make Keith go back to Shiro smelling like a heat and send the Alpha into a rut. He’d gone through heats without an Alpha before, and he would do it again. But it really was tantalizing, having the smell all around him and being unable to feel it on his throat and wrists.

 

He hadn’t noticed that he had been whining until he felt a cool wetness against his forehead. Keith was pressing a damp towel against him and peeling the blanket down a little to his waist. They met eyes for a moment and he must have been making a funny face because Keith actually _smiled_ at him. It was just this little quirk at the corner of his lips but it was there.

 

“I’ve never seen you smile,” he noted.

 

“That can’t be true,” Keith argued. “I have a fun enough time with you guys.”

 

“Yeah, but you’re always so brooding,” Lance continued. “I mean, I’ve seen you laugh at stupid jokes, but there’s a difference between laughing at something funny and smiling because you’re genuinely happy. Trust me. I am a master of both.”

 

Keith just made a noise of agreement, like he was appeasing Lance’s delirious musings.

 

“Seriously, though,” Lance went on. “You look happy. Is the Shiro thing a new development?” He delighted in the slight flush that crept over Keith’s cheeks. This was a good look on him.

 

“Kind of,” he admitted. “We had a couple years of flirting back on Earth under our belts, but last night was our first time really acknowledging it properly.” Lance’s eyes almost bugged out of his head.

 

“Years?! Like, _before_ Kerberos?”

 

“Yeah. He was my only friend at the Garrison even though he was older.”

 

Lance averted his gaze at that statement. He knew Keith’s time at the Garrison hadn’t been a field trip, but he hadn’t known Keith didn’t have any friends _at all_. He probably should have realized, honestly. Keith wasn’t the most charismatic, and when the news about the Kerberos mission hit the media… That’s when Keith’s behavior started to spiral downwards and he got kicked out for fighting.

 

Lance had felt sort of helpless back then. It was obvious the news had upset Keith, but Lance hadn’t known why. Then Pidge had begun to ruffle her feathers at any mention of it as well, so Lance had stepped in and tried to keep her out of trouble as much as he could have. He’d heard her spew about how it was a cover-up and that the Garrison didn’t know what happened to the crew enough times to begin to suspect there were secrets being kept.

 

In hindsight, he couldn’t really blame them for covering up an alien abduction.

 

“Well, what took you guys so long, then?” Lance asked in a teasing mood, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

 

Keith just shrugged. “Stuff happened.”

 

“Did you kiss him yet?”

 

“Oh, my god, you are so annoying,” Keith said, shoving the wet towel into Lance’s face, but his laughter betrayed his words and Lance laughed with him. “Yes. Well-he kissed me, but, it’s kind of the same thing, right?”

 

“It is actually fairly different,” Lance rectified. “At least at the start.” He stretched, getting into a more comfortable position, freeing his legs from the blanket while still covering his more private areas. “Hunk doesn’t really like to kiss,” Lance said with a pout. “At least not on the lips. Which is a shame. He’s a good kisser.”

 

“Is… that part of the heat?” Keith asked, almost uncertain if he was asking something offensive.

 

Lance chuckled. “I don’t know if it is for all Omegas, but I personally love kissing. The messier the better.”

 

Keith scoffed at him. “Of course.” There was a strange silence between them. It wasn’t necessarily awkward, but they were both thinking about their own things. Keith broke the silence.

 

“Do you… want to kiss?”

 

Lance’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline.

 

“I mean, I am here to help you through your heat, and all,” Keith continued, like he was trying to defend his offer for some reason. Lance just watched him, amused. “And like, I have no problem with-with kissing you if it’ll help.”

 

“Put your money where your mouth is then, Red Paladin,” Lance goaded and licked his lips. He thought Keith might make a snarky comment in return, but he just held his gaze for a moment before diving right in. Lance let out a little sound of surprise before letting his eyes fall closed and enjoying the feeling of lips against his own.

 

Keith kissed different than Hunk, which he really should have expected. Hunk was soft and reassuring; Keith was quick and… taunting. It was like each movement against his lips asked him for more. Keith pulled back and Lance blinked his eyes open, chest heaving for air.

 

Lance licked his lips and focused on Keith’s. They were wet and redder than before. He let out a little whine and placed a hand over his dick through the blanket, draping his free arm over his eyes to hide his face.

 

“That good, huh?”

 

They both chuckled and Lance groaned. His heat was rising back up. How long had it been? Was Hunk on his way with the food? It didn’t really matter; he’d have to wait until the next lull to really eat much of anything. The sound and feeling of the bed shifting made him peek out from under his arm.

 

Keith was getting comfortable beside him, practically laying against him. “You seem surprised,” he said.

 

“Well…” Lance didn’t really know how to respond to that. “I guess you did kind of agree to make out with me, didn’t you?”

 

“I did.”

 

“Even if I’m like… jerking it right next to you?” If Lance’s heat didn’t have him blushing before, he certainly was now.

 

“Isn’t that the point?”

 

“It kind of is, isn’t it?” Lance asked with a nervous chuckle. “I’m just not used to it.”

 

“Well, neither am I,” Keith said. “So I guess we’re even.”

 

“I guess so.” Lance wasn’t sure if he even spoke the words. He was staring, blatantly, at Keith’s lips as he talked. They moved in a slightly lopsided way and Lance couldn’t help but find it incredibly adorable. Keith must have gotten the hint, because he was kissing him again.

 

Lance’s grip on his cock tightened on impulse and he tried to focus on getting his breathing figured out before anything else. Keith was, of course, good at kissing. He was good at everything, apparently. He’d pull back briefly from time to time to let Lance get a breath. As soon as he felt Keith’s hand on him, holding his head tilted at a specific angle, Lance let his hand slip under the blanket.

 

This was so much better than just jacking off. Lance spared a thought to wonder if he just really liked attention, because kissing shouldn’t have felt so good. There wasn’t even tongue. Keith’s weight shifted a little until he was half draped over Lance, hand moving from holding him to supporting his own weight. Lance could feel the dip of it beside his ear and he let out a shuddering breath as his hips lifted and his hand moved faster.

 

Then his mouth was full of tongue and Lance could feel his throat going raw from the deep groan he let out. It was already sore from the rest of the day, but he couldn’t bring himself to mind the light pain. Keith didn’t really taste like anything except the smoothies they’d had for lunch, but his tongue was moving against Lance’s lips and teeth like it was mapping it out. Lance tried to keep up, his own tongue pressing as far into Keith’s mouth as it could, but he was too busy trying to do too many things at once to be successful.

 

Lance’s hips ached and he pulled his hand away from himself to push Keith back a little, gasping for air. Keith made a small sound in question.

 

“Gotta move,” Lance panted, shifting onto his side so he could reach his hand behind himself instead. The blanket was stuck covering his front, draping over his hips and continuing to hide the most intimate parts from Keith’s view, and Lance was partially glad it was. Keith had seen everything earlier, but he’d never been laying in the same bed while it was going on, and Lance felt it would be too much for both of them.

 

Keith had settled on his side again, and Lance was keenly aware of the slight curve of his hips. He’d seen Keith shirtless, so he knew the Beta was strong. Physically, they weren’t that different: they were both fit. But Lance’s strength lay in his upper body; his shoulders and arms were probably his strongest. Keith was all core. Most of his strength was in his abs and his thighs and this knowledge was suddenly both the best and worst thing for Lance to be thinking about.

 

Keith’s lips were on his again as Lance brought his hand behind himself and teased over his hole, smearing some of his slick over his fingers. His knees bumped against Keith’s shins and then Keith was pulling on his knee, bringing his leg up over Keith’s. He almost hyperventilated, pulling away for a moment, unsure if this was really a wise move.

 

“It’s okay,” was whispered into his ear and Lance shivered. There was a hum of slight amusement and he could feel Keith’s breath and lips skimming over his ear. Shiro’s scent was overwhelming. “You like this too?” It was only a whisper, but Lance felt like his skin was on fire, his body shaking almost violently.

 

“Tell me.” It was further away this time and Lance looked, searching for Keith’s gaze. “I won’t do something if you don’t want me to. Even if your body wants it.” Lance groaned, shifting his arm to get a better reach inside himself.

 

“Kiss me,” he croaked out, not even caring how wrecked he sounded. And finally those lips were on his again. Lance pulled Keith’s tongue into his mouth eagerly, finding the place inside himself where it felt the best. He squirmed in his pleasure, but kept still enough to not throw Keith off the side of the bed. He would reach orgasm soon at this rate.

 

Keith’s fingers moved from their place behind Lance’s knee and grazed up his leg before disappearing from Lance’s senses. Keith pulled away from his lips, and Lance whined, opening his eyes to ask what was wrong _this_ time with his gaze. Keith’s eyes flickered down and Lance followed. His fingers were hovering over his chest, waiting for permission.

 

Lance leaned forward in answer, skin raising goose bumps as he felt the blunt of Keith’s nails against his nipple, and claimed his lips again. That seemed to be enough consent for Keith, because he was doing all kinds of things to Lance’s skin that made him moan and press his chest forward for more. He yelped once when it was pinched a little too sharply on a nail, and the pad of a finger soothed it gently while he felt more than heard Keith croon a little in apology.

 

Lance eventually had to pull his mouth away to breathe. It was getting too difficult to multitask, so he focused on his fingers inside. Keith’s lips wandered over his face and down his jaw. His body tensed when he felt Keith’s tongue drag over his scent glands on the side of his neck.

 

“S-so close,” he whispered, hand moving recklessly and pressing his fingers into the most primal and instinctual part of him. Sudden pressure on his neck made Lance worry that Keith was biting him, brief panic rushing through his system, but he soon realized it was only fingers, stimulating the gland harder than his mouth could without biting, and Lance was falling over the edge of bliss.

 

He came hard, making a mess in the blanket, body pressed up against Keith’s, leg curled up around the Beta’s hip and face buried in his shoulder as he rocked his body, milking every last wave of pleasure. It was only as he was regaining his hearing and coming back down to reality that he was aware Keith was holding him much tighter, arm around his back and he was _nuzzling_ him.

 

Lance slumped into the embrace, still trembling slightly as he pulled his fingers out. He didn’t even have time to worry about wiping them off before he felt his exhaustion pull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So "Feel Good" by SHINee started playing on my Pandora while I was submitting this/reading it one last time for mistakes and just... How perfect. Good song, by the way. I recommend it. ;)


	5. Tread Lightly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course things would start heating up just as the heat ends.

Keith held Lance a bit longer until he realized the Omega had fallen asleep. His heart was racing and he was hard; it had been difficult to not react when an object of his affection was orgasming against him like that. It had been _really_ good, and Keith entertained the idea of slipping off to the bathroom to jerk off, but he decided he better not. He didn’t want to use Lance as fapping material if the Omega wasn’t aware or didn’t like it. He told himself that they’d talk about it soon, when the heat had passed and Lance could think more logically.

As the room cooled down a bit, Keith started to feel a bit sticky from sweat, and he knew Lance couldn’t be any better, so he began to try to untangle himself from the long, tan limbs and clean them both up a bit. Lance mumbled and swung his arm over Keith’s waist, pulling him closer and holding him in place and Keith froze with his arm hovering over the Omega, unsure what to do.

Of course, Hunk would choose that time to come walking in with a tray of food. He had been humming to himself but as the door closed and he took in the sight of them on the bed, he went quiet.

“Help,” Keith whispered, gently tugging on Lance’s arm, only to be squeezed even tighter and have a nose burrow into his neck. Oh right, he smelled like an Alpha. Keith could tell Hunk was trying desperately not to laugh. “It’s not funny. We’re sweaty and gross.” He tried not to think about where Lance’s hand had been not five minutes prior to clutching the back of his shirt. “What took you so long anyways? You missed an entire flare up.”

“Sorry, sorry, I know I took a while,” Hunk apologized and approached, trying to move Lance without waking him. “Damn, he’s not letting go.”

“Yeah, I can feel that,” Keith wheezed out. It was getting hard to breathe. After another moment of them both trying to pry him off, Keith slumped against the pillow. “I give up. He keeps squeezing tighter and if we keep trying he might actually squish me in half.”

Hunk chuckled. “He wouldn’t do that, but you’re right. We should wait until he gives a bit naturally. I can try to clean him up a little though, make him a bit more comfortable. That might relax him.”

Keith nodded, fingers absentmindedly playing with the hair at the nape of Lance’s neck while Hunk scrambled around the room for some clean wet rags. He pulled on the hair a little to see how far the waves would unravel and he scoffed. “And you make fun of me for my mullet. You hypocrite,” he mumbled. If Lance were awake he would have heard and probably protested. Instead, he was just nuzzling up under Keith’s jaw and he could feel fingers scratching gently at his back through the fabric of his shirt. “Has he always been so fidgety in his sleep?” Keith asked a bit louder to Hunk, who was pulling the blanket free from underneath their legs and putting it in a pile of laundry they were going to have to take care of soon.

“Oh yeah, he’s never not moving,” Hunk said, returning with a warm, wet hand towel and he started wiping Lance down, starting with his forehead. Keith couldn’t understand how Hunk could do this so calmly, but he supposed after living with him for a while he just got used to it.

“You’re a great friend, you know,” Keith said as Hunk moved Lance’s leg to clean his more intimate areas. Lance whined a bit, returning his leg back over Keith’s when Hunk was done, and Keith sighed.

“I know,” Hunk said a bit smugly, but he still somehow managed to sound humble. They were all lucky he was with them, if Keith was honest with himself, but he kept thinking about Lance having to suffer through heats alone and he was glad the Omega had someone as nice and gentle as Hunk to take care of him.

Hunk draped a new blanket over the both of them and rubbed Lance’s arm affectionately. “Thanks for taking care of him while I was getting food. Looks like you did a fine job without me.”

Keith rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. “I just… want to help, you know? And I don’t have very many boundaries to worry about crossing either. He mentioned you don’t like kissing, so I told him we could kiss.”

“Oh man, no wonder he’s hanging onto you for dear life,” Hunk commented with a chuckle, finally sitting down and grabbing a bowl of food goo. “He has a mad oral fixation.”

“I gathered,” Keith responded.

“Still, you might want to be a little more cautious,” Hunk went on. “I mean, you’re kind of dating Shiro now, right? Won’t it be a little iffy if you do too much with someone else? I kind of pegged you two as super loyal.” Keith actually avoided looking at Hunk, a small blush rising to his cheeks as he watched Lance sleep.

“We kinda… like Lance too,” he tried the words. They felt strange on his tongue but they also felt _right._ “Both of us. We talked about it. We’re gonna talk to him after his heat wears off.”

“Woah, are you serious?” Hunk asked, setting his bowl aside. “Like you want to be together all three of you?”

“Only if he’s comfortable with it,” Keith said. “We know not everyone likes the idea of multiple partners and we don’t want him to feel like he has to choose or anything.”

“I honestly don’t know how he feels about multiple partners,” Hunk said, picking up his food again. “But I’m sure he’ll appreciate you guys talking to him about it first. As long as you’re open and honest. But make sure he’s not in a joking mood and knows you’re serious first. He can be hard to read sometimes.”

“Uh, thanks,” Keith said. He hadn’t been expecting tips on how to talk to Lance.

“I mean, I’m sure he’s figured out by now that you at least care about him a little bit,” Hunk reasoned. “I mean, you’re here, and you’re trying really hard for him. And Shiro’s here too, in a sense. Haha, in a scent.”

Keith huffed a sort of chuckle at the pun. He truly hoped Lance could tell they cared about him. Keith kind of hated his competitive side for all the bickering Lance seemed to pull out of him so easily. But he was trying. Maybe Lance would be able to accept that and try too. Keith had hope he could, because they’d been doing better since the days leading into his heat. He didn’t know if it was just because Lance was tired or his mind and heart weren’t up for any arguments, but from what Keith had seen, Lance was fairly lucid most of the time and able to think. Talking with Hunk had helped assure Keith that they could make it work if Lance wanted it too.

In the days that followed, Keith and Hunk started spending more time with Lance one-on-one and taking breaks to catch up on sleep, showering, doing laundry, and bringing meals. Keith offered to take longer shifts each time, and Hunk let him.

They did their best to wash off the worst of the scent before venturing into the rest of the castle, but they knew it still lingered. They kept an eye on Shiro, and he assured them each time that it wasn’t any worse than the first day. Keith knew him well enough to know he was mostly telling the truth, so he let it slide. The two made out in random corners of the castle a lot, and Shiro began to insist he keep scent marking Keith each time before he returned to Lance. The news that the Omega had appreciated it stuck with him and he was determined to help, even if from afar. He admitted he also just really enjoyed the intimacy with Keith, which made Keith blush, but he was happy.

Each rise in heat went about the same as the time when Keith first joined Lance in the bed. Keith would provide some stimulus while Lance took care of the more intimate parts. On the third day, after Hunk had left when Keith had brought them dinner and to switch shifts, Keith decided to ask him about it.

“Is it… Is it really enough with me just kissing you?”

Lance looked up from his food goo.

“It was enough before,” Lance reasoned. “I got by. You don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“But I’m not uncomfortable,” Keith butted in. “If you’re okay with it, I’m not uncomfortable with anything, really.”

Lance looked like he didn’t believe him, so Keith stared him down, daring him to argue. Eventually Lance sighed and looked back down to his spork as he took a bite.

“I don’t know, okay? I’ve never had someone willing to do so much with no strings attached, you know?”

“I guess you’ve never had a friend as stubborn as me.”

“This is true,” Lance said almost too happily. “You are the most bull-headed of any of my friends.” Keith didn’t bring up the fact that Lance had just admitted they were friends. It might ruin the moment. “I suppose, if you’re really fine with it…” He trailed off, watching Keith’s face for his reaction. “Like I wouldn’t say no to a hand job. I would say a blow job, but I _really_ like kissing, so I think I’ll stick with handsy stuff for now.” Keith almost gave a pitying smile.

“Nothing super kinky you’re into?” Keith prodded. “Practically everyone enjoys a hand job. That’s kind of standard.”

“Well excuse me for not having explored my sexuality with others,” Lance spat at him, flushing bright red. He seemed to be more offended by the remark than embarrassed by it.

“I mean, I haven’t either, but I fantasize, you know?” Keith admitted. “Like I might actually hate it in real life, but I’d definitely want to try some kinky shit at least once in my life.”

“Do tell,” Lance said, scraping the bottom of his bowl. “Give me all your kinky secrets. Maybe one of them will sound somewhat interesting.” It was a challenge, Keith could tell. Lance was trying to goad him. He thought for a moment.

“I doubt our kinks will overlap much, trust me,” Keith warned.

“Throw one at me and we’ll see,” Lance said.

“Well, one of the more frequent ones involves fire,” he said, sending Lance a sly smirk. He wasn’t disappointed. Lance’s jaw dropped and he looked almost horrified.

“Are you a masochist, Keith? I should have known, with how often you go barging head first into danger.” Keith just shrugged.

“I think of it more like I’m an adrenaline junkie,” he said. “But we’re trying to find _your_ kinks, not mine. I’m thinking bondage. Wouldn’t it be a change to have a gag and _not_ be able to talk for once?”

“I am offended.” He didn’t sound offended. “I don’t know. I move around a lot. I think that would just be frustrating.”

“That’s kind of the point,” Keith said. “Not being able to move. Adds to the psychology of it. I bet you have a _huge_ praise kink. Like compliments and encouragements. Boost your already too-big ego.”

Lance clicked his tongue in irritation. “Like I’d believe any praise coming from _you._ It would probably just make me laugh. I dare you to try to work it in next time and not have it backfire.”

“Challenge accepted,” Keith said, taking Lance’s empty bowl and spork and putting them back on the tray beside his own. “Kinks aside, what about like erogenous zones? You have to like more than kissing.”

“Well, of course, that’s basic biology,” Lance said, gesturing between his legs and Keith laughed. Lance smiled a little and leaned back against the wall to think. “I mean, just the usual places, I guess. Neck, nipples, ass…”

“What, do you want me to grope you next time?”

“Not what I had in mind, but I probably would enjoy that,” Lance said. “No, I mean like… the h-hole. God, it’s embarrassing to say.”

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Keith said a bit softer to stress his seriousness. “It’s your body. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I guess you’re right. I didn’t shit on you for liking pain.”

“Well, you kinda blanched at it,” Keith reminded. “But I get it. No offense taken. So do you like things around it or actually going in?”

“Depends on the thing,” Lance said, avoiding meeting Keith’s eyes.

“Well I would assume fingers would be going in,” Keith said, “since you do that to yourself already. Basically I’m asking if you want me to eat you out.”

“Oh my god!” Lance turned around, burying his face into the pillow. “I can’t believe you just said that!”

Keith laughed. “It’s a serious question! Come on, man.” He kicked the edge of the bed a little so Lance could feel it. The Omega peeked an eye out at him from the pillow.

“I guess… It’s just a little nerve-wracking, because… it’s so close to the scent glands down there and… I don’t want to be marked,” he admitted, and Keith felt his heart flutter. He wanted to reassure him.

“I won’t mark you if you don’t want me to,” Keith reasoned. “You know I wouldn’t do that.”

“I _do_ know,” Lance said, frustrated. “We can… we can try. But if I start to panic, do you promise to stop?”

“I promise.”

Lance flung his arm out towards him, his fingers curled in except for the little one.

“Are you seriously making me pinky promise?”

“Are you saying you won’t swear on the unbreakable pact of the pinky promise? I cannot trust you!” Lance rolled over and held his hand to his forehead dramatically.

“Oh my god, fine,” Keith said, holding his pinky out and Lance laced his own through it. “I promise I’ll stop if you want me to.”

“You better, or I’ll send Hunk after you.”

“I do _not_ want to have Hunk angry at me. He’d literally kill me and serve me for dinner.”

“I bet you’d taste like sweet victory,” Lance teased.

Keith ruffled his hair with a laugh, making Lance squeal a bit. When they settled down, Keith was almost on the bed already and Lance was tangled in the sheet from having kicked in playful complaint. They locked eyes for only a moment before they were kissing.

Lance’s hands were in Keith’s hair, pulling and tugging. Then a single hair was plucked from his scalp and he pulled back with a yelp, hand holding his head as he stared at Lance incredulously.

“What was that for?!”

“Testing your pain kink.”

“Not that kind of pain, you little shit,” Keith admonished and tried to go back to making out. He tensed a little when Lance’s hands went to his hair again, but the nails against his scalp felt nice and he relaxed into it soon enough. Then Lance pulled on fistfuls of it and a groan was wrenched from his throat.

“Ooh, so _that_ kind of pain.”

“I have given you an awful power,” Keith mumbled into Lance’s lips.

Later, as Keith was staring at the ceiling while Lance slept, clinging to him (at least he had let him clean up first this time), he replayed the events and the parts he never wanted to forget, even if Lance rejected him and Shiro later. Like the fact that Keith had been right about Lance’s praise kink. And that eating him out was actually really _really_ nice. They did have to stop once, but Lance eventually talked him into trying again. And Lance could cum untouched. That was an intense discovery for the both of them, he presumed. He had been two fingers deep, giving Lance’s G-spot (he’d corrected Keith when he called it his prostate; apparently Lance has both, and the prostate is not amplified by his heat but his G-spot is) some rather lavish attention, and then he’d licked around his hole, barely getting the tip of his tongue in next to his fingers when Lance had clenched around him so hard it hurt his tongue, releasing against his own stomach and down onto the bed.

It had actually been kind of funny when he’d slumped in exhaustion, because he was still on his knees with his ass on display. Keith had also discovered Lance _loved_ overstimulation. Once the muscles around his fingers had eased up a bit, he moved them again and Lance was shaking and whining. It was amazing. Keith had it bad, he was willing to admit it. He just really hoped that Lance kept up with the more playful banter they’d established instead of the angry fighting. This was so much better than a stupid rivalry. They would still try to one-up each other, that was for sure, but it didn’t have to be malicious.

Over the next couple days, as Keith thought about it, and talked to Shiro about it, the more he was certain. He didn’t give Shiro details, because that was Lance’s information to give, not his, but he was open with his own feelings. It was the first time Keith had ever really talked so much about himself in his entire life. It was cathartic.

On the day the heat first began to really recede, Keith tried talking to Lance a little about it and he seemed to close off at first. They never got to the underlying cause for the whole rivalry thing to begin with, but they had agreed to try to let it go. Keith wasn’t so sure if it was actually going to play out that way, though. There was something in Lance’s demeanor that made him think the reason for it all was a bit more deeply rooted. He hoped he’d get the chance to get to the bottom of it.

By the time the last wave of heat hit Lance (of course it would happen on Keith’s shift), he was using Keith’s penchant for pain against him. There were dark scratch marks on Keith’s back, bright red against his pale skin, and there had been so many bites on his lips and tugs on his hair he couldn’t stop himself from seeking some friction, rubbing against Lance’s leg. Then Lance had laid him on his back and ground into him, and Keith could feel him through his too-tight pants.

“You can cum too,” Lance had whispered a bit desperately, continuing to grind himself against Keith’s clothed erection. Keith had tried to protest that he didn’t want to use Lance’s heat as an excuse, but the Omega was having none of it. “The heat is basically gone, dumbass. Consider it a thank you for helping me.”

Keith hadn’t liked the wording of that or the way Lance had said it, but Lance was pushing it, so he’d wound up with his pants around his knees and their cocks rubbing together, covered in slick. Keith finished first, and he barely thought to pull his shirt up out of the way so he wouldn’t make too much of a mess, spraying white over his stomach. Lance ran his fingers through it, still moving above him, making some comment about Keith’s abs before shifting forward to grind himself against them. Keith would have been embarrassed if he wasn’t in a post-orgasmic state. Then Lance came and messed up his shirt anyway.

Keith kept his hands on Lance as much as he could knowing it was probably the last time he had the excuse of the heat to touch him like this. The fact that Lance wasn’t so exhausted he collapsed after was sign enough that his heat had probably passed, and the Omega tried to climb off of him just like that, but Keith pulled him back down, kissing him as sweetly as he could. They had a lot to talk about, but he didn’t want to overwhelm Lance too much, so they cleaned up and he prepared to leave with the final load of laundry, stripping the bed completely this time.

“Will I see you at dinner?” he asked.

“What time is it?” Lance asked, stretching out his back before pulling on a shirt.

“Probably not lunchtime yet,” Keith said. “We had breakfast just before…”

“Maybe,” Lance said. “Probably. Yeah.”

“Don’t avoid us too long, okay?” Keith said and hovered by the door. “Everyone misses you.”

“It’s been one week,” Lance argued.

“That’s a long time to go without seeing someone even though they’re in the same building. Ship. Castle. Whatever this thing is.”

“All of the above,” Lance chuckled. “I get it. I’ll be there at dinner. I promise.” He sent a small smile and Keith returned it before slipping out the door. He dropped the laundry off with Hunk with the news that the heat was finally done (conveniently _not_ explaining why one of his shirts was in with the bedding), and then he took a long, cold shower. Most of that shower was spent staring at the tile and letting the water beat against the scratches on his back with a nice sting.

He wanted to linger in the feeling of the past week for a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pacing picks up in this chapter just because I didn't feel like dragging this heat out for much longer. I think I'm doing relatively okay on keeping up with the schedule. Still figuring out formatting, but I think I got it finally.
> 
> Keith's kinks are my kinks ohoho~
> 
> And wow! I have enjoyed talking with all of you! Your comments are a delight! :D Don't be afraid to just dive in with any comment even if it's not about the fic. I don't bite, I promise.


	6. Feast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beginning to find the new normal post-heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter now has artwork! I also plan to do at least 2 more pieces once I get something in each chapter. So anticipate~

Shiro was going to lose his mind. He couldn’t stop pacing and biting the nails of his human hand as he waited for every update from Hunk or Keith. It was better when Keith was the one to come back. He knew the Betas were washing the scent off of them whenever they left that area of the castle, but the scent still lingered in their skin. Keith smelled stronger than Hunk did, and Keith had told him it was because he was physically closer to Lance, actually letting the Omega rub on him a little. That mental image made Shiro grin like an idiot and Keith had smacked his shoulder for it in jest.

Shiro hadn’t really considered how the whole ordeal was going to change Keith. It had seemed simple enough when they’d talked the first time, but he could see the Red Paladin was conflicted. It made him restless and Keith wasn’t one to be completely open about his feelings unless he had no other option. The first time Keith had left Lance’s side since the heat began, he’d backed Shiro into a corner and kissed him furiously. Shiro wasn’t complaining, but he could tell Keith was deflecting.

So they’d sat and talked. Shiro didn’t claim to be an expert on relationships or feelings, but he tried to be there for Keith. It seemed to be working. As the days went by, Keith talked to him a bit more openly, and Shiro could tell Keith was trying too. Shiro liked to sit in quiet corners of the castle with Keith in his lap, laying back against his chest so Shiro could nuzzle behind his ear. Keith didn’t say anything about it, and Shiro could feel his ears actually twitch from time to time. It was later that Shiro noticed Keith’s ears moved a little when he smiled, and even when he was trying _not_ to smile, his ears would shift a little. Keith denied it when Shiro asked him if he could wiggle them. Must have been an involuntary movement.

Shiro made sure Keith always returned to Lance with as close to a clear head as he could get, and he indulged in scent marking him each time as well. It helped the Alpha to know that he was actually involved in some way, even if he couldn’t physically be there.

The news that Lance’s heat was starting to cool down filled Shiro with a strange mix of relief and disappointment. He tried to focus on the relief, because they could only hide from the Galra for so long. He upped his training schedule a bit to prepare to get back into battle mode. Sometimes Keith would join him while he wasn’t resting or tending to Lance and they would spar.

Soon enough, Hunk came to the rest of the crew with the news that the heat was finally over. He suggested they all wait for Lance to join them instead of seeking him out because Omegas can be a little finicky after a heat and they shouldn’t risk pushing his buttons. He also suggested to Coran that they give the room a thorough cleaning and disinfecting to get rid of any leftover scent.

When Keith walked in, freshly showered and hair still damp, Shiro could tell he had something on his mind. After lunch was finished, the two meandered into the training deck. Keith always seemed to be able to sort through his thoughts if he was moving. So they sparred while Keith ranted about his feelings. He thought Lance was acting weird about him spending his heat with him. Like Keith was doing it so he owed him or out of pity, but he didn’t react that way toward Hunk. It made him angry, so Shiro let him fight it out until he was exhausted.

After an hour or so, Keith landed a rather weak punch to Shiro’s abdomen before slumping forward against him with a deep sigh. Shiro had been basically waiting for it, so he pulled him close and wrapped his arms around Keith’s shoulders, rubbing up and down his back.

“He’s worse than me about talking about his problems,” Keith said, still angry but without the energy to do anything about it. “There’s something bothering him, I can tell, but he avoided it and smiled. He _smiled,_ Shiro! How can he smile like that when he’s upset?” They both knew it was a rhetorical question, so neither said anything else about it. They knew why Lance smiled, and it was probably not a new development either. The Omega had a couple different smiles, and one was definitely less sincere than the others.

“We’ll give him some time, then we’ll try to talk to him,” Shiro supplied. “Maybe we should wait to talk to him about relationship stuff and work on general communication first.”

“I think they might go hand in hand,” Keith said. “But yeah, we can avoid relationship talk unless it becomes important. I hated seeing him like that. It was harder for him to hide it, probably because he was so emotionally raw all week. It just made me feel like maybe it was something I did back at the Garrison. And if it is, I can’t remember it, so that makes it even worse that it stuck with him for so long, but was insignificant to me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Shiro lightly scolded. “It’s probably nobody’s fault. A lot of things are like that. I’m sure he’ll come around when he’s ready. And we’ll be there for him when he does.”

They pulled apart after a while, feeling a little gross as their sweat cooled, and headed for the showers just off the training deck. These were communal and more open, as opposed to the little shower stalls that were in the bathrooms attached to each of their rooms. They stripped and Shiro turned the water on, expecting Keith to do the same in another stall, but instead felt hands slip around his waist and a kiss was placed between his shoulder blades.

“What are you up to now?” Shiro asked with a chuckle, turning around to place a kiss to Keith’s lips.

“Can I wash you?” he asked a bit quietly, so Shiro had to strain to hear him over the sound of the water.

“Sure,” Shiro said and let Keith move him around in the shower. He knelt so his hair could be reached and placed a kiss to Keith’s stomach, making him laugh. It was intimate. It was cute. Shiro liked it. He leaned back into the water to rinse and when he stood back up he kissed Keith a bit heatedly. They didn’t say much, but continued to wash, and he honestly was a little surprised when Keith touched him in a different way. In his head he knew there was a good chance this situation would wind up sexual, but it hadn’t been getting too heated, so he’d let his guard down a little.

But then Keith was pressing his lips against Shiro’s skin where his hip met his leg. It may have been slightly Shiro’s fault that he was half-hard, but he wasn’t alone in that aspect, and thought it might be a situation where they ignored it. Apparently not. Keith’s fingers dropped the cloth he’d been using to wash Shiro’s skin and found their way up his thighs. They met gazes for a moment, the asking and giving of permission, before Keith’s mouth was suddenly _very_ busy.

It was the first really sexual thing they had done. It took a bit of communication on Shiro’s part (and some heavy insisting that Keith really should _not_ use his teeth), but overall, Shiro thought it was kind of perfect. It didn’t feel rushed or forced, and they laughed and messed up, but they learned, and that was the part Shiro liked most: that they were learning each other.

Then the tables turned, and Shiro had the opportunity to wash Keith. His hair was a bit difficult, since Shiro wasn’t accustomed to long hair, but he liked running his fingers through it and Keith seemed to enjoy the feeling on his scalp. Shiro made sure to be thorough in actually washing Keith’s body before trying to reciprocate, but Keith stopped him with a hand on his head when he tried to take him in his mouth.

“Hands,” was all Keith said, and it was hushed and hot as he pulled Shiro to his feet and kissed him, pressing their bodies together. Shiro used his human hand between them, stroking slowly at first, his Galra-made hand resting just above the curve of Keith’s ass to hold him close. The closer Keith got to his release, the more his body shook, almost vibrating in Shiro’s hands. His fingers clawed at Shiro’s shoulders and he buried his face in Shiro’s neck. He was relatively quiet, Shiro noticed, but it seemed fitting for the Beta: quiet groans and heavy gasps were enough for Shiro to know he was doing something right.

When he finally came, he let a louder moan slip through and slumped against Shiro’s body. The Alpha ran his hands up and down Keith’s back and up into his hair, placing kisses on his neck against his scent glands. Keith chuckled, the warm breath tickling a little, as he stood upright on his own feet.

They kissed for a little while longer until the water ran cold. So they rinsed off and dried off, slapping each other with wet towels and laughing before getting dressed and returning to the others for dinner.

Lance was on his way as well, and they ran into him in the hall.

“Lance, it’s good to see you back,” Shiro greeted and went to place his hand on the Omega’s shoulder, but hesitated in case he was still touchy. He didn’t want to startle him. Lance sent Shiro a soft smile and put his own hand on top of Shiro’s, letting it rest on his shoulder before patting it a couple times.

“Yeah, it’s good to be back,” he said.

“I’m gonna go check on Coran,” Keith muttered and slinked away, shooting Shiro a pointed look, which Shiro returned. Lance watched him go with an eyebrow raised, then turned back to Shiro once Keith had disappeared through the door to the dining room.

“Thanks for, you know, doing what you could, with the scent and all,” he said, letting Shiro’s hand linger a little longer than he usually would before he took a step back.

“I just wanted to help,” Shiro said. He couldn’t stop himself from inspecting Lance’s appearance, wanting to be positive the Omega was feeling all right. “Did you eat lunch? Have you been drinking water?”

Lance actually laughed at him, and it made Shiro’s tension release a little. His eyes flickered toward movement at the end of the hall where Pidge was doing a very bad job of sneaking into the dining room.

“I’ve been drinking enough water, Shiro, I promise,” Lance said. “I haven’t had lunch yet, though, so I’m _starving._ ” He made to move for the door, but Shiro’s voice stopped him.

“Well, hold on a minute, there’s no rush,” he said, as he watched Pidge slink inside, the quiet whirring of the door almost too loud to his ears. “I actually wanted to talk to you for a little bit before we get back into the swing of things.”

“Oh, okay,” Lance said, sending a bit of a longing look to the door over his shoulder. “What is it?”

“Oh! Um…” Shiro scratched the back of his head, scrambling for something he actually wanted to tell him, because Shiro was not good at lying to people he trusted. “I just wanted to make sure you knew you can always come talk to me if you need to. I may not be the best at giving advice, but I can always listen. I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to keep things to yourself to keep the mood high or something.” Lance avoided his gaze at that and actually looked a little ashamed, but he recovered quickly, standing up straighter and squaring his shoulders. “You’re allowed to feel things, Lance. And it’s nothing to be ashamed of either. So just know I’m here for you to talk to if you need it.”

Lance nodded. “Thanks, Shiro.” It was quiet, almost choked and Shiro’s heart almost broke. He wanted to pull Lance in and just hold him close, but he knew that would be too much for both of them. Lance was still a little emotionally raw, it seemed, and Shiro didn’t want to take advantage of that. He was basically saved by the sight of Keith opening the door and giving him a thumbs up before slipping back inside.

Shiro sighed and ruffled Lance’s hair as he passed him, heading for the dining room.

“Let’s go eat. You must be starving.”

Lance flashed a small smile and followed, swatting the hand away from him with a chuckle. They reached the door together and it opened. It seemed unassuming at first, but as they approached the table, Lance sniffed and his jaw dropped.

“Whoa! What is all this?!”

Coran spread his arms wide, displaying the plethora of food. It didn’t look much different than some of their more elaborate meals, but it smelled like a steakhouse.

“We have quite the menu tonight!” Coran chirped, and began pointing to the various multicolored treats. Hunk would follow up with what it tasted like. There was bacon, steak, potatoes, and Hunk was rather proud of his purple barbecue sauce. They finished their presentation with a flourish, watching Lance with anticipation.

He stuttered for a bit, then grabbed the back of his chair and yelled. “I’m gone for _one week_ and you’ve managed all this?!”

“To be fair, you were the reason they got so into it in the first place,” Keith said, stepping up beside Lance and leaning over his own chair to look at him. “Coran wanted to make Earth flavors for you to enjoy after your heat. It started with bacon and kind of spiraled out of control.”

“Yes, it was very difficult!” Coran said with pride. “Quite the collaboration.” He smacked Hunk’s hand when the Yellow Paladin raised it, like they’d been practicing. It seemed he still didn’t comprehend its significance, but he went along with it.

“Lance, you have to try _everything,_ ” Hunk said excitedly. “It really tastes like the real thing, if you ignore the texture.”

Lance was in a bit of a daze as he took his seat, and the others began to follow suit. Coran made everyone their plates, starting with Lance, because he was in such a good mood.

They all waited for Lance to take the first bite, and as soon as he did, he melted in his seat, gripping his spork tight in his hand and practically moaning. The action sparked laughter throughout the room as the others began to eat as well. Shiro’s attention was split between admiring the result of Hunk and Coran’s hard work, and watching Lance’s reactions.

The Omega was normally very talkative over their meals, but he was solely focused on eating a little bit of everything. Shiro thought he could see some moisture building in his eyes, but nothing ever spilled over, and he supposed it was a mixture of nostalgia and happiness. The flavors really did bring back memories, they were so similar to actual food.

As they started to get full and slow down, Shiro helped Coran start packing up the leftovers into the refrigerator. Coran called it something that Shiro couldn’t pronounce, but it was basically a fridge.

“Do you think we did all right?” Coran asked a bit hushed so they wouldn’t be heard. “I’m not sure if it was the best thing for Lance after all.”

“It was great, Coran,” Shiro insisted. “Lance is probably just easily emotional at the moment. He’ll probably thank you later. I think he’s been trying not to cry all day.” He chuckled when Coran seemed startled at the idea and had to explain that Lance was not, in fact, sad or in pain, just nostalgic.

Pidge was the first to excuse herself and get back to her latest project. Eventually it dwindled down to Lance, Keith, and Shiro, the latter two watching the former as he tried desperately to finish what was in his bowl even though he was stuffed.

“If you eat more you’ll probably wind up sick,” Shiro said, leaning against the table.

“I don’t care,” Lance practically whined. “It’ll probably taste just as good the second time.”

Keith made a disgruntled face. “That’s gross. I think I’m gonna go work out. Just run laps or something. You coming with?” He angled his gaze at Shiro.

“Maybe later,” he said and placed a hand on his stomach. “I think I should let things settle first. Lance, will you join us or are you too tired today?”

Lance nibbled on his spork as he thought about it. “I’m not really that tired right now but I probably will be once my food settles. I should be okay to get back to training in the morning, though.”

“All right, make sure you get plenty of sleep,” Shiro said, patting Lance’s shoulder again. “And remember what we talked about earlier.” He waited for Lance to nod and then followed Keith out of the room. As they walked, Keith walked so close they bumped hips every so often.

“What did you talk about?” he asked when they were a good distance away from the dining room.

“I just let him know he can talk to me if he needs to,” Shiro said, slipping an arm over Keith’s shoulders. “I figured it was a good start. You could do the same, if you wanted.” Keith snorted at the thought. “I’m serious. Yeah, you kinda suck at being sentimental, but if you make the effort, I’m sure Lance will see that. Right now he just needs to know that we’re all here for him, even the others.”

“I guess you’re right.”

They ran laps together until they were both too tired to run anymore. They barely rinsed off in the showers before saying goodnight outside Keith’s room with a few kisses.

Then Shiro retreated to his own room and managed to fall asleep earlier than usual. Seeing Lance well after his heat had released some of the tension and stress of the last week, leaving him more aware of his exhaustion than before. He still managed to wake up in the middle of the night covered in sweat and filled with panic at ghosts of a dream he couldn’t remember.


	7. Initiative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance thinks. Keith tries not to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, you guys. I have been all over the place mentally the past couple weeks. I hope I can get back to the once a week thing and stick with it. This chapter is a little shorter but we're about to get into the meat of season 2 storyline and I gotta figure out how to weave in and out of that. Anyways, I hope you enjoy a look into Lance's head! He tries so hard.

Lance lay awake staring at the ceiling above his bed listening to the quiet hum of the castle. Pidge’s headphones lay on the desk across the room and he’d forgone his facial mask tonight. His skin was always pretty great after a heat anyways, so it wasn’t like he needed it. If he was honest with himself, he was exhausted, but he couldn’t shut off his brain. He didn’t want to shut off his brain. He wanted to figure things out.

He thought about how everyone helped him out in their own way during his heat. The obvious ones were Hunk and Keith. Lance had known Hunk would help, because he had always helped in the past and didn’t even hesitate when he’d mentioned it. But Keith’s offer and his persistence was boggling Lance’s mind. Certainly, Keith was the kind of guy who put his all into everything he did, but Lance was still trying to figure out what had caused Keith to offer in the first place.

There were so many reasons Keith  _ shouldn’t _ have helped him. They didn’t know each other very well, had only known each other for a couple of months, and their relationship was distant at best. They bickered more than anything when left to their own devices, but Lance could recognize that he was mostly the one at fault. It was just so easy to push Keith’s buttons and Keith seemed to know how to unintentionally push all of Lance’s as well.

If Lance hadn’t been overwhelmed with anxiety over his impending heat, he probably would have turned down Keith’s offer. As it stood, he couldn’t really take back the last week, and he knew their relationship couldn’t go back to what it had been. He needed to figure out what he wanted, then hope it matched up with what Keith wanted, and  _ then _ hope it didn’t interfere with Voltron.

The first step was the hardest part. Lance didn’t know what he wanted. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Keith. He was actually really grateful to him for the past week. The Red Paladin had done more for him physically than anyone else ever had, and didn’t even want any reciprocation. He figured that might just have been because Keith was keeping a clearer head than Lance had been, but obviously he had been affected. Lance had felt bad for monopolizing Keith’s time while he had Shiro to return to, and he honestly didn’t regret them getting off together as some sort of convoluted apology and thanks, but he was beginning to think he shouldn’t have insisted so strongly.

He may have pressured Keith to do something he honestly didn’t want to do. Just because he’d had dozens of boners throughout the week didn’t mean Keith had wanted  _ him. _ Obviously, Keith would want Shiro and was only affected by the pheromones Lance was putting out. Keith did have a superior sense of smell, after all. But Lance hadn’t smelled sex on him any time he came back from the rest of the ship (though he had smelled freshly of Shiro, Lance had noticed).

So Keith hadn’t been dealing with the obviously constant arousal where Lance would expect him to. Which meant he hadn’t been dealing with it  _ at all. _ Maybe he just didn’t want to risk sending Shiro into a rut? But if anything, sex would have held a rut at bay and released the sexual tension. And he let the Alpha scent mark him, which would have been just as influential in inducing a rut, if not more. There was always the possibility that Keith and Shiro just weren’t ready for that physical step in their relationship. But then why had Keith been okay with helping Lance get off so much? It couldn’t have been much different…

He had no idea how long he’d been staring at the ceiling in thought when there was a knock on his door. He stayed still, not wanting to interact with anyone and hoping they’d give up and think he was asleep. Just when he’d let his breathing settle and begun to try to think again, there was another knock. He sighed and got up, pulling his robe on over his pajamas for a bit more comfort and slipped into his slippers. A look at the security monitor told him it was Keith. Lance frowned.

“Why are you awake, mullet?” he asked, finger pushed on the intercom button.

“Were you asleep?” He looked like he’d just thought of that possibility and tugged at the back of his hair nervously. Lance hesitated to answer. Instead he opened the door and walked back toward his bed, waiting for Keith to follow him into the room. “I’m sorry if I woke you up. I didn’t realize how late it was and you must be tired.”

“I wasn’t asleep,” Lance admitted, sitting on his bed and pulling his pillow up into his lap. “Did you need something?”

“I just… wanted to talk.” Keith spoke carefully, like he wasn’t quite sure of the meaning of his words.

“That’s weird for you,” Lance remarked. “Are you sick?”

“No, I know it’s weird,” Keith said and sat in the chair across the room at the desk. “I’ve been trying to talk more about stuff with Shiro, and it helps, but it’s hard to just get started.”

“So I’m assuming whatever you need to talk about involves me then, since you’re here and not with Shiro,” Lance suggested, suddenly nervous. Was Keith upset with him for pushing him too far this morning? Did he regret his offer to help in hindsight and want to tell him he wouldn’t help him again?

“Yeah, um,” Keith pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, chewing on it nervously and Lance had the urge to tell him to stop because he’ll ruin his lips, but that sounded ridiculous and inappropriate even in his head, so he kept quiet. “I guess the gist of it is… you can talk to me. Like if you just need to rant about stuff, I’ll listen, no judgement.” Lance frowned again.

“You sound like Shiro,” he commented.

“You didn’t tell anyone on board you were an Omega until your heat started overbearing your suppressants,” Keith retaliated. “It had been what, two months at that point? Did you honestly think you couldn’t trust us with it? If you had kept running from it, you might have slipped into your heat without preparation, you could have sent Shiro into a rut, it might have happened in the middle of a mission.” He took a deep breath to keep his voice from rising. “I know you’re the type of person to internalize all your problems. I’m the same way. But you also feel a lot more strongly than I do.”

Lance was about to ask what he meant by that, but Keith went on to explain on his own. “You watch us, you know us, you… you understand us and notice things. Everyone. You’re so observant and empathetic to everyone’s needs but your own. And basically I wanted to tell you that I don’t want you to neglect yourself anymore. Come to us when you need something. We’re a team now. A family, as odd as it sounds, and we should be there for each other. Even if it is weird at first.”

Lance was honestly about to cry. He wiped at his eyes furiously, willing the tears to just be sucked back up into his skull. Keith was silent for a while, and only seemed to realize what was going on when Lance pulled in a shaky breath. The Beta was at his side at once, kneeling on the mattress beside him and placing a tentative hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay? Did I say something bad? I’m sorry!”

Lance huffed out a laugh. “No, no, it’s good.” He tried to stop Keith from panicking and fanned at his face to try to cool down. “Just still a little high strung and just… everything you’ve done for me over the past week has meant a lot, and now you’re asking to continue to help, it’s just a little overwhelming right now. In a good way.”

“Oh,” Keith sounded surprised and definitely out of his element. His hand had begun to rub over Lance’s shoulder blades, back and forth, making the Omega sway a little in his seat. He wiped at his eyes as the tears finally took a break and smiled.

“I’m okay,” he said again, voice stronger than before. “Thank you.”

Lance leaned his forehead on Keith’s shoulder, indulging in another person’s warmth for a moment. Keith’s hand only stopped for a moment, resuming its soothing motions on his back.

“Would you-”

“Do you-”

They both laughed as they’d spoken at the same time. “You go first,” Keith said.

“Would you mind staying with me until I fall asleep?” Lance asked quietly. He wasn’t even sure if he had spoken aloud, but he felt Keith’s fingers twitch on his back, so he must have been heard. When there was no response for a few seconds, he pressed on. “I’m still really emotional and I’m used to being coddled and preened for a couple days. Big family, you know, everyone worries too much and takes extra care of the Omega of the family even if he doesn’t need it. So it’s… kind of hard to just dive right back into being alone at night.”

“Yeah,” Keith said, obviously still thinking out the details in his head, but he wanted to give Lance some sort of answer. “I’ll stay with you tonight. Just don’t kick me off the bed.”

Lance barked out a laugh, finally pulling away to look Keith in the eye. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I can always wander into Hunk’s room for a good cuddle.”

“There’s definitely not room for the two of you on one bed,” Keith countered.

“Touché,” Lance said and scooted towards the wall, starting to get his bed ready to settle in for the night. He spent longer than necessary on fluffing his pillow and making sure the blanket covered him just right, and Keith’s stare was the only thing that stopped him from continuing. “Ah… I guess this is some small form of nesting.” He gave a nervous chuckle and Keith’s eyes widened, but he was curious.

“Do you need more pillows?”

“‘Need’? No. Want? Yes,” Lance chuckled. “I’m fine without it, though my instincts want me to make the best blanket and pillow fort in existence.” He flopped over to face the wall, putting his back to the Beta. “If you need another pillow or blanket, feel free to go grab yours.”

“Are you really sure I’m okay to join you?” Keith asked. “Isn’t nesting really affected by scent and stuff?”

“Dude, you don’t smell like anything,” Lance countered. “If anything, it’s a protection thing, so any lingering Shiro smell is probably even nice to have. ‘Cause Alphas protect, and all that. Well, a welcome Alpha, anyway.”

“And Shiro is a ‘welcome Alpha’ to you?”

“Of course he is,” Lance said, nuzzling further into his pillow. “He’s our leader, isn’t he?”

“I guess…” Keith trailed off and then settled into bed behind Lance, trying to find a good way to get the both of them to fit comfortably. They wound up with Lance using Keith’s arm as a pillow and Keith using the actual pillow, and Keith had an arm slung over Lance’s waist, mostly to keep them from rolling away from each other and sending the Beta to the floor.

Lance tried desperately to not think about how nicely he fit there. He tried to ignore the warm breath against his neck and the occasional twitch of a finger against his navel.

“You can leave once I’m asleep,” Lance said. “I don’t want to make you stay here all night.”

“Lance?” Keith asked and Lance could tell he was tired.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and go to sleep,” Keith said, shifting his legs a little and Lance shut his jaw tight when he felt toes against his ankles. Then Keith’s fingers found their way into Lance’s hair and the Omega was done for, snoring within the minute, surrounded by warmth and his inner dynamic practically purring with the feeling of  _ safe. _

When he woke up, his nose was pushed into the wall. Just when he decided to back away from the wall, the wall  _ pushed forward. _ Lance opened his eyes and saw black. He blinked and realized it was fabric, and it was moving. He swallowed as he remembered how he’d fallen asleep, and then very carefully so as not to wake the sleeping form next to him, he took in his position.

He’d managed to turn over during the night, now facing Keith, who was still draped around him in a protective manner. Lance was held so close to him he literally could see nothing but Keith’s collarbone and shoulder. The hand of the arm Lance was laying on was pulled up between his chest and Keith’s abs (a little twitch told him his hand was actually against  _ skin _ , so that was a little embarrassing), and the other was pressed into the small of Keith’s back, holding onto the Beta as much as the Beta was holding onto him.

Lance wanted to groan in annoyance at himself when he realized where his legs were. One was between Keith’s, actually rather comfortably, but the other was draped over the Beta’s body, hooking around his thigh. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look at Keith any more than necessary at the moment.

Then the fingers still lodged among his hair twitched and began to slowly scratch at his scalp and he sighed as his body relaxed at the touch. He felt and heard Keith chuckle.

“Morning,” was whispered into the air and Lance had no choice but to accept his situation. He grunted in response, earning another chuckle that reverberated through his whole body because he was pressed so close. “Breakfast isn’t for a while, so take your time.”

Lance wanted to sit up and push Keith away, get some space between them and allow himself to breathe, but his body felt like lead. He was too comfy. So he caved and even slipped back into sleep for a while.

Eventually, Lance had to use the bathroom too badly to stay in bed and he whined against Keith’s chest before rolling back a little. He inadvertently tugged on Keith’s shirt and blushed when he released it, trying not to stare at Keith’s stomach where the shirt had fallen too high up. He stretched, several joints popping from being in the same position for a long time, and then turned his head, finding Keith watching him from the pillow.  _ My pillow, _ he realized.

Lance took the chance to really take in his appearance. His hair was a mess, but it framed his face in a way that Lance thought was just  _ unfair. _ He huffed as he sat up, trying desperately to get the image of Keith in the morning out of his head.

“Gotta pee,” he muttered and Keith shifted his legs to give Lance room to scoot out of bed.

He relieved his bladder first, then washed his face and stared at himself in the mirror for a while, biding his time before he had to go back out there. When he did return, Keith was sitting up on the edge of the bed, hair significantly tamer, though still not combed, and he was staring at his hand as he clenched and unclenched it.

“You okay?” Lance asked as he stepped further into the bedroom. Keith looked almost startled, but mostly spaced out.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, but he didn’t really sound completely with it. “I should go get dressed.” He stood and made his way to the door. “Did you sleep well?”

“I slept great,” Lance said. “Did you sleep? You seem a little out of it.”

“Yeah, I slept fine,” Keith said, but he was avoiding Lance’s eyes, and Lance didn’t like that. It was like they were taking a step backward.

“Hey,” he said, and waited for Keith to look at him. “You know you can talk to me too, right? All that stuff you said last night, it applies the other way around too.”

Keith thought about it for a moment. “I’ll try,” he said before waving and leaving the room.

Lance sighed and sat down on his bed.

Suddenly, Allura’s voice was coming in over the intercom.

“Paladins, please report to the deck immediately,” she said, and she sounded stressed, but no alarms were going off. Lance would have to worry about Keith later.


	8. Cuddle Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set after season 2 episode 3: New anxieties arise, and the whole team has a collective bonding moment.

Keith’s mind was in overdrive. So much had happened in the past couple days and it had turned all of their lives upside down. They had followed a lead that Shiro had remembered about his time as a Galra prisoner. Keith had suspected something otherworldly about his knife since he was little, and seeing Ulaz’s blade bearing the same insignia had only driven Keith further into himself.

He knew he couldn’t avoid the others, but he spent less one-on-one time with anyone ever since then. The implication that Keith had a connection to a _Galra_ organization consumed him. He threw himself into training and spent his whole evening with Red because she made him feel somewhat in place. He fit with her. He was at least glad that she was a constant. He felt like he had been drifting from everyone throughout the day, especially Lance and Shiro.

Lance looked like he knew something was up, but he didn’t act on anything, like he was afraid he’d upset the new strange camaraderie they’d established, but Keith knew the reason laid on his own shoulders. So Lance had stayed respectfully at a distance, though he would send Keith little smiles as if to remind him of what they’d discussed: that Keith could talk to him about anything.

Shiro had used similar words as well. And Keith did his best to not think about anything other than Shiro when he was with him, because otherwise, Shiro would see right through him. Their time together was spent quietly. Shiro didn’t push him to talk, and for that, he was grateful.

Keith liked to cling to the hope that the Blade of Marmora was actually who Ulaz claimed they were. The Galra’s sacrifice had weighed heavily on Keith’s mind. He wanted to believe that if he _was_ connected to a Galra faction, it was a good one that was fighting to bring down Zarkon. But Allura’s blatant hatred for the Galra threw doubt into his mind. _Could_ they trust the Blade? They had freed Shiro, but who was to say they didn’t have an ulterior motive?

The night after the fight with the RoBeast and Ulaz’s sacrifice, Keith slept in Shiro’s room. Neither of them actually slept, but they both pretended to, even though they knew. Shiro snored, so the lack of noise told Keith the Alpha was awake, probably thinking, just like Keith was. And Keith’s feet fidgeted when he was trying to lay or sit still, so Shiro definitely knew that Keith was awake, because he was rubbing his toes over Shiro’s ankles distractedly.

Lance had actually mentioned it in passing the morning after they’d cuddled, the morning of the events that had them all rethinking the way they thought the universe worked, while they were waiting for the coordinates to be downloaded from Shiro’s arm.

It was a trait they apparently shared, and Keith thought back to during Lance’s heat, when Lance, indeed, never seemed to stop moving. Keith was pretty sure he didn’t move while he was actually asleep though, and Lance blushed a little at the reminder of their previous interactions. It was a pleasant blush though, and he smiled a little as if it was a fond memory.

Pidge had teased them about bonding over restless leg syndrome, before finally pulling up the coordinates on the screen.

Keith wished he could go back to those topics. Stupid, useless topics like his restless legs or Shiro’s snoring.

Of course, with neither of them sleeping at all, the next day’s training was grueling. Keith ached afterwards, and he had half a mind to skip lunch and take a nap. But he was never that lucky.

Footsteps followed him down the dormitory corridor and he turned to see Lance was following him. They both stopped and the Omega gave him a sheepish smile.

“Hey,” he said and Keith could have sworn he sounded nervous.

“Do you need something? I was gonna take a nap,” Keith said, gesturing to his door, which he had almost made it to uninterrupted.

“A nap?” Lance asked, suddenly changing his demeanor altogether, placing a hand on his hip. “What are you, fifty? You’re not tiring out on us now, are you? You never take naps! Though you do look more tired than usual. Got the little baggy bags under your eyes.”

Keith’s finger twitched at Lance’s rambling. “Did you have a point?"

“Oh! Right. Uh, well, if you’re tired, I should probably let you sleep, right? Don’t want to bother you with something that’s not really important.”

“Follow me,” Keith said and turned to enter his room. Lance had been rambling, which meant he was overthinking something, which meant he probably needed to talk. And Keith _had_ told him that he could talk to him. He wasn’t about to go back on his promise just because he was worried about his own problems. He could listen.

Lance was quiet when the door closed behind him and he just watched as Keith kicked off his shoes and took off his belt, slipping his sheathed knife under his pillow as he always did when he was going to sleep. He sat on the edge of the bed staring up at the Omega, who had yet to speak at all.

“Are you just going to stand there staring at me?” Keith asked, wondering if maybe Lance had somehow picked up on his knife. There really shouldn’t have been anything suspicious about it because he’d wrapped it. It was just a knife. He was unreasonably paranoid about it, so he tried to keep his breathing calm and even as he waited for Lance to decide what he wanted to do.

“Sorry,” Lance said and came to sit on the bed beside Keith instead of in the chair across the room at the desk like he probably would have a couple days ago. He let out a heavy sigh and seemed to shrink. He looked so small, almost hunched over. “I just… It’s the first time someone has actually died for us. At least that we’ve witnessed.”

Keith hadn’t really thought of it from that perspective. They’d not witnessed anyone die to protect Voltron before Ulaz. They’d been around death, but most of it had been accidental or murder.

“Logically, I know…” Lance continued. “That Voltron will ultimately do more good. And that Voltron is needed to end this. And we didn’t really know Ulaz. But he rescued Shiro, and he gave us information, and a way to a group of allies that might be the key in this whole mission to take down Zarkon. He did so much for us, and we couldn’t do anything for him, really. It just kinda sucks, I guess.”

“Yeah, it sucks,” Keith said a bit quietly. “He could have answered a lot of questions.” Keith was actually mentally kicking himself for not asking more about Ulaz’s sword. But he was nowhere near being able to decide if he wanted to know or if he was going to dread it. So he had wavered. Deflected. He’d been doing a lot of that the past couple days.

“He could have,” Lance agreed, and Keith could practically feel his gaze burning into the side of his head. Keith stared stubbornly at his feet until Lance sighed and dropped whatever he was trying to get out of him. “Shiro must be distraught.”

“He kind of is,” Keith agreed. “He didn’t sleep any either.”

“You’re both hopeless,” Lance said, but it sounded less like an insult and more like a term of endearment. He stood and stretched. “What do you say we go find that hopeless Alpha and take a nap together?”

Keith shot him a strange look. “Why do you need a nap?”

“I’m going to ride on my post-heat excuse as long as I can, man,” Lance warned. “I like to cuddle, and I am taking every opportunity that presents itself. Plus, I can keep tabs on both of you and make sure you actually sleep. Since apparently neither of you are able to do that without supervision.”

Keith couldn’t really argue that one. Both he and Shiro had their different reasons for avoiding sleep. So he stood and slipped into his boots again, hesitating a little before leaving his knife under his pillow, and they both went to find Shiro.

It didn’t take much convincing to get Shiro to agree, and they made a kind of makeshift bed in the common room out of the couches, since Lance insisted on a close-knit cuddle session. He even invited Hunk, who actually considered it for a long time, before being summoned by Pidge to help her work on something.

“Rain check, guys! For real!” he called, being dragged away and Lance chuckled fondly.

“Man, Hunk is the best at cuddling,” he said, a bit disappointed. “I suppose we’ll have to make do. At least he helped us move the couches together before he left.”

“We could have moved it by ourselves,” Keith countered, bringing over more pillows from the pile they’d brought from their bedrooms. “They’re not that heavy.”

“Says you,” Lance said. “I hate moving furniture.”

“Whatever, lazy ass,” Keith said before deeming their cuddle area ready and plopping down.

Lance sputtered and swatted at Keith’s face.

“No! We have to lay a blanket down or something,” he whined. “The fabric of the couch is scratchy.”

Keith half sighed, half groaned and rolled off the couch.

“I could have been asleep an hour ago, Lance,” Keith said, getting grouchier with each passing moment.

“Yes, but think of poor Shiro, who would probably not even consider napping today without our persuasion,” Lance said, spreading a blanket out over the couches and Shiro took the opposite side to help him tuck the corners into the couch cushions.

“To be fair, we don’t know when Zarkon will find us next,” Shiro said. “If he’s really tracking us, we could be attacked at any moment.”

“And you need to be rested to be able to fight,” Lance countered. “For now, we’re in the clear, so let’s take advantage of it. We’re actually closer to the hangars here than in the dorm hall anyways.”

“Fair point,” Shiro said and paused before hopping onto the couch, earning a laugh from Lance, who followed soon after.

“Oh, so _now_ we’re allowed on,” Keith said, only sounding half irritated as he climbed back onto the couch.

“I call middle!” Lance said. “Make me a Lance sandwich.” They all chuckled a little at that and they spent a few minutes situating pillows and blankets so they were all comfortable. Lance couldn’t seem to decide which way he wanted to face. Shiro found it amusing, but Keith was getting impatient and cranky.

On one hand, Shiro was probably the most comfortable to cuddle into, and he smelled the nicest (Keith had smacked Lance’s arm for that) but Lance was also a little shy about affection with Shiro because of their dynamics. He didn’t want to overly confuse either of them. Finally he pressed his back up against Shiro’s chest and settled his head on Shiro’s arm.

Apparently Keith took too long joining them, because they both waved him over and Keith couldn’t help but chuckle. They were adorable, but he couldn’t exactly say that out loud. So he opted for settling in on the rest of Shiro’s arm, facing them both. Lance pouted at him.

“But I wanna spoon,” he babbled with a pout.

Keith rolled his eyes. “You’re spooning Shiro.”

“But I wanna be a big spoon.”

“Oh, my god, if I turn over will you just go to sleep already?”

“Yes! Maybe. Probably.”

Keith sighed, wondering how he could find Lance adorable and insufferable at the same time, but he rolled over anyway, letting Lance sort of guide him with a hand as he scuffled into a comfortable position. Then Lance gave the vocal command for the lights to dim fairly dark and they actually fell asleep quickly.

When Keith came to again, he found himself nuzzled under Lance’s chin. A slight peek through heavy eyelids told him the room was still dark, so he closed them again, opting to try to go back to sleep. A small sound made him raise his head and look around through the dark.

There was just enough light that Keith could make out what was obviously Hunk’s silhouette tiptoeing closer, Pidge close behind.

“What are you doing?” Keith whispered, making their dark forms stop.

“Joining the cuddle fest,” Pidge whispered back. “We finished our project.”

“How long has it been?” Keith asked with a frown.

“Not even an hour,” Hunk said, carefully trying to step up onto the couches without waking anyone else. “Where do you want, Pidge?” He helped her climb up with barely a sound and Pidge crawled around to Shiro’s other side and laid sideways compared to the original three who laid down, using Shiro literally as a backrest as she pulled a stray blanket over her. Shiro’s snoring got a little quieter with the added pressure on his back, but it was still there.

“I’m set,” Pidge said.

Hunk took a bit more time deciding where to go, so Keith helped him out, settling back down under Lance’s chin.

“Get on over here, big guy,” Keith said quietly, patting the space of cushion behind him. Keith would be lying if he said he was completely comfortable at first, but Lance had been right: Hunk was cuddly and comfortable. If they were going to do this, they were gonna do it right: with nobody left out.

It took Keith a little longer to fall asleep this time, and sure enough, about ten minutes later, he heard the door open again. Coran and Allura whispered to each other, but they were unnaturally quiet and Keith couldn’t understand what they were saying. From their tones, it sounded a bit like Coran was convincing Allura of something, who was protesting.

Keith sighed and sat up again, his head peeking over the armrest of one of the couches to blink tiredly up at the Alteans. Allura stepped forward and whispered so he could hear, even though he had to really concentrate on the words.

“What is going on?” she asked.

“Group nap time?” Keith whispered back, though it was more of a question because he didn’t really understand it himself.

“Is this a… human tradition?”

“Not really,” Keith supplied. “But I’m not really an expert on human interaction.”

She seemed to stew over it for a moment, turning back to Coran before asking to Keith, “Is there room for another?”

Keith blinked at her. “Um… I suppose if you can find room. I don’t really see why not.” She smiled wide, and Keith actually was glad to see it. She’d been frowning too much the past couple days.

“I’ll go keep an eye on the control room,” Coran whispered and left, apparently not wanting to participate in the cuddle fest. Allura was already climbing up and found a spot next to Pidge, leaning her head on Shiro’s shoulder.

Keith once again settled back under Lance’s chin, and he felt the Omega press down against the top of his head, pulling him tighter, and Keith wondered if he was awake for that whole thing.

Either way, the room was now very warm and amazingly inviting, and sleep pulled him again.

He was awoken to a pillow in the face and suddenly he was bombarded with sound and light. Apparently it had been going on for a short while, and he was just too far asleep to notice, which would have frightened him, if he wasn’t hearing Pidge and Lance laughing and Allura practically squealing.

He was distinctly aware that he was no longer cuddling anyone, and shivered a little at how cold he felt as a result. He barely opened his eyes, not wanting to alert anyone to his newly-awakened state. There was a pillow fight going on practically on top of him. It seemed to be girls versus guys, and judging by the fact that the next pillow that hit him in the face came from _Lance_ , he was willing to bet the women were winning.

In less than a tick, he was wielding both pillows that had hit him and was joining the attack, whacking Pidge across the shoulder and sending her onto the cushions with a delighted shriek.

Eventually teams were shucked aside as Lance turned on Hunk and began attacking him because he was “an easier target because he was big and right there” and then all hell broke loose. As they began to tire, Pidge plopped back onto the cushions to catch her breath and Keith joined her. In a moment of realization, he voiced something that left the others speechless.

“I’ve never had a pillow fight before.”

There was a moment of an awkward atmosphere until Lance gave a war cry and belly flopped across Keith’s body, a pillow under him to cushion the fall, but it still made the Beta heave and groan at his weight. It turned into play wrestling, and Keith was definitely superior in that department and had Lance easily pinned within a minute, whining for Keith to get off of him. Instead, Keith made himself comfortable using the Omega as a seat.

Keith felt lighter, like there was less weighing him down in the wake of the previous day’s events and their implications.

Eventually, Coran called them all together so they could begin working on castle repairs, and the group left the room (conveniently leaving the couches in their modified positions), Keith leaning into Shiro’s side as the Alpha draped an arm over his shoulders and placed a kiss to the top of his head.


	9. Trying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro does his best. Lance tells a secret. Precarious fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter literally skims over the events of episodes 4-7, and pretty much everything that transpired in those episodes happens as canonically. Obviously the next chapter will have to deal with a lot more.
> 
> This chapter has not been beta read, yet again, because I am awful and don't give my beta readers time before I post. As last time, I doubt anything major will change, but I'll update the tweaks and fixes as they get to me.

Shiro felt lighter than he’d felt since before Kerberos. At first, he had hesitated to try and sleep on the couches, but he was truly exhausted and unable to keep himself from falling into the lull of slumber. He’d awoken to a welcome warmth and the rhythm of breathing against his back and chest. It hadn’t taken him long to realize that there were more people than when he’d fallen asleep, and felt a surge of fondness swell inside him at the recognition of Allura and Pidge both resting against his back, huddled into each other with Allura practically holding onto the smaller girl protectively.

Shiro watched the others sleep for a while before Lance flinched in his sleep, kicking Keith in the shin only to hurt his own toe, waking with a small yelp of pain, causing Shiro to chuckle and pull him closer. Lance had stayed quiet for a while, but eventually maneuvered around to face him.

“Hi,” Lance whispered, to try and let the others sleep some more.

“Hi,” Shiro returned, sliding his free hand up to Lance’s shoulder and back down, continuing in the motions absentmindedly. Lance’s eyes caught the small amount of light in the room and Shiro wondered if that was natural or if the lights were strange, because his eyes seemed to glow. “Did you sleep well?”

“I should ask you that,” Lance retorted, poking a finger into the middle of Shiro’s chest. “Did you sleep at all?” He sounded a little distressed at the thought that Shiro hadn’t slept after all he’d gone through to set up a nap for him.

“I slept great,” Shiro said. “I don’t think I’ve slept that well since before I graduated at the Garrison.”

“Really?” Lance asked, his eyes sparkling with some kind of hope.

Shiro nodded and watched Lance’s face break into a bright smile.

“I’m glad,” he said. “You deserve to rest. You’ve been through so much.” He pulled himself closer to Shiro’s chest, resting his head up under Shiro’s chin and the Alpha stiffened a little. His heart was pounding; he worried Lance could  _ feel _ it. When the Omega made no move to back away, Shiro let his hand resume its trail up and down the boy’s spine.

Shiro watched Keith’s sleeping face, barely a foot away and the only thing keeping him from threading those fingers through Lance’s hair, since the Beta was using that arm for a pillow. That and the fact that he was pretty sure he couldn’t feel his fingers anymore, the circulation long since cut off to his still-human hand. Even with the other people crowded around them, Shiro felt his heart clench with  _ want. _ The three of them curled around each other as they slept was so blissfully domestic, even though this wasn’t a romantic setting.

“Thank you,” Shiro whispered, wondering if Lance was even still awake. He thought he felt Lance’s breathing stop for a moment, but it resumed so quickly, he might have imagined it. “This was perfect.”

Lance held him tighter, and Shiro swallowed. He was allowing himself to imagine, and that was dangerous. Especially with Lance so close they were constantly inhaling each other’s scent. The Omega wasn’t nearly as strongly-scented as the previous week, but it was jogging Shiro’s memory of it. Lance’s heat scent was sweet, like sugary fruit, but his scent now, as strictly himself, was almost salty, yet really refreshing.

“Rainfall,” he whispered in realization.

“Mm?” came from just under his chin.

“Oh,” Shiro winced, not having meant to speak aloud. He couldn’t just  _ lie _ , though. Not in this situation; it would feel like a betrayal. “You smell like the air just before a rain storm.”

Lance pulled back and looked him in the eye, a look of pleasant surprise on his face as he propped himself up on an elbow to look down at Shiro.

“Really?”

“Has no one ever told you what you smell like?” Shiro asked, actually surprised the Omega wasn’t aware. Shiro had grown up with people complimenting his natural scent. It was as common to hear as a remark about his attire.

“Well, I mean,” Lance looked down at the space between them, then a littler further, possibly over to Keith. “My family never really brought it up, because they’re all Betas and don’t smell as much. And no one else really got that close, so people only really noticed when I was in heat.”

Shiro hummed quietly in understanding, his hand reaching up to brush some of Lance’s bangs across his forehead.

“I think you smell nice,” he said. “It’s refreshing.”

Lance let his eyes drift closed. “Well you don’t smell too bad yourself.” His lips quirked on one side, a teasing tone to his voice.

“Oh, my _god_ , stop flirting and go back to sleep,” came a voice from behind Shiro. They both shifted to look and saw Pidge blinking up over Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro chose not to comment on the flirting statement because that would just open up a giant can of worms he wasn’t completely sure he was ready to deal with. At least not with everyone else in the room.

“This wasn’t even supposed to be a full rest,” Lance countered, sitting up higher and leaning over Shiro to argue with Pidge. “How long are we going to waste the day?”

“Yeah, I am kind of hungry,” came Hunk’s voice from behind Keith as he sat up with a yawn. “Do you think it’s time for dinner yet?”

It didn’t take long for Pidge and Lance to start to wrestle playfully, claiming the couches made a sort of pen that was perfect for it. Shiro was amazed Keith was still asleep, since the Green Paladin was not keeping her voice down at all and they’d almost crashed into him three times. Then Allura was the one who threw the first pillow, hitting Lance in the face.

“Oh, it is  _ on! _ ”

And all hell broke loose. But it was fun. Shiro hadn’t had that much fun since he was a teenager, and he felt it was good for him to act like that every now and then.

It was that leftover playful energy that had led to the “squishy asteroid fight” while they were doing repairs on the exterior of the ship.

Shiro was in a good mood as they headed into the next mission that presented itself to them. And witnessing Lance and Keith working together more fluidly in battle filled him with a sense of pride.

Once they left the Olkari, Shiro was planning to have a talk with Keith about his behavior, recklessly taking the king hostage without a real plan, but he seemed so happy to realize that everyone and everything was “made of the same cosmic dust” and therefore related, that Shiro couldn’t bring himself to sour that mood.

And then they were under attack and he didn’t have  _ time _ to talk to Keith. They barely managed to evade and jump through a wormhole, but the wormhole-maker thing was breaking. And they couldn’t rest because Zarkon  _ kept finding them. _ And Keith and Allura ran off because they thought it was their fault (Shiro didn’t even know  _ how _ Keith thought it was his fault) and they discovered it was probably through the Black Lion.

Shiro was not having a good few days. And Keith running off like that made him realize they… hadn’t been talking…. They hadn’t had a chance to talk since Lance’s heat first ended, and when he did ask, Keith closed off on him. Shiro knew it wasn’t completely within his control, but he still felt guilty about neglecting him. But they didn’t have time to discuss it now.

They saved the Taujeerans and were on their way to get more scaultrite lenses. At least the others were. Shiro had to have a heart-to-heart with his lion.

It went pretty well. He learned a lot. His lion definitely taught him a lesson, and he could feel their bond stronger than ever.

They were ready to start heading for the Blade of Marmora. It was going to take them a while, so Shiro sought Keith out.

He was on the training deck, exactly where Shiro had expected him to be. He watched for a while, worrying. Keith had been so open with him last week, and seemed to find it normal to sleep in Shiro’s bed, but they didn’t talk.

As soon as Keith took a break to catch his breath and drink some water, Shir came over and joined him, sitting beside him.

“Hey,” Keith said in greeting, keeping his gaze away. “You wanna spar?”

“In a minute,” Shiro said. “I wanted to talk.”

Keith stiffened up, his voice going a little cold.

“What’s there to talk about?”

Shiro sighed. He couldn’t just ask Keith to talk to him about his problems. It pushed him to be more closed off. So Shiro talked first.

“I had thought… that the Black Lion was mine, you know? But it’s not like that. I had to realize that it wasn’t up to me. I can’t  _ make _ my lion choose me. But I could show Black the difference between me and Zarkon. And that’s what I had to do. I think I used to be afraid that I  _ wasn’t _ that different than Zarkon.”

Keith turned to him, about to interject.

“I  _ know _ I’m not the same,” Shiro said before Keith could get a word in. “I know it. But it’s hard not to think about how I’ve changed since I was his prisoner. Sometimes I don’t even know who I am anymore. Like Zarkon might have been a decent person at one point, but he’s not anymore. People can change. And Black knows that, I’m sure. But who’s to say I’m not gonna change too?”

“Shiro, you’re  _ nothing _ like Zarkon,” Keith said, staring fiercely into Shiro’s eyes. “I don’t think there’s anything in the universe that would justify what he’s done. But you try so hard to make sure everything you do is to  _ help _ people, Shiro. You’re the opposite of Zarkon.”

Shiro smiled a bit ruefully at him then looked at his feet.

“It’s one thing to know something, but it’s hard to not doubt every so often. Irrational fear, and all that.”

Then Keith was pulling him in, sitting up on his knees to rest his head on top of Shiro’s almost aggressively, holding him close. Shiro almost laughed, but he felt it might be a little inappropriate. It was like Keith was trying to protect him from the outside world. It was a slightly crazy idea, but it went through his head anyway. Keith’s fingers were scratching through his hair and Shiro felt himself relax into the touch, pulling Keith close by his waist.

And Shiro felt better. So when Keith pulled back and leaned against him, sitting on the same level once again, he tried to breach the subject at hand.

“Do you want to talk about what has you so tightly strung?”

He felt Keith start to stiffen up again, but he just held Keith’s hand tighter until he relaxed a little more.

“It’s not really something that will go away if I talk about it,” Keith finally mumbled. “I think it’ll sort itself out in a day or two.”

Shiro sighed but leaned over to nuzzle the top of Keith’s head. “Okay. I don’t like seeing you struggle so much, but if you want space, I’m not gonna force you to deal with something head-on that you’re not prepared for.”

“Thank you, Shiro.” And they were kissing, and it felt so much better than the ones in passing when they were both too preoccupied to talk about things. He hoped that meant that Keith was feeling a little better too.

They spent the rest of the evening sparring until they felt tired enough to go to sleep. They passed Lance on their way. He was already in his pajamas, but looked entirely too awake to be going to bed.

He was acting a little weird, and Shiro asked him if he wanted to talk, sensing this might be something the Omega needed. Lance flickered his gaze between the two of them.

“Can I talk to both of you?”

Both Shiro and Keith raised their eyebrows in mild surprise, but followed him into his room, so he would be in a more comfortable place. Shiro was a little shocked when Keith sat next to Lance on the bed, but it was also comforting to see it be a natural movement for the both of them. So Shiro took the chair across the room, pulling it closer and waiting for Lance to say what he wanted to say.

“So I kind of… know about you guys both liking me.”

There was a bit of a strangled silence in the air.

“Wha--who told you?” Keith asked, wondering if he was going to have to corner Hunk and give him a lesson in keeping secrets.

“No one!” Lance was quick to respond, probably knowing where Keith’s mind was headed. “No one told me. I… I overheard you talking to Hunk. During my heat.”

“You mean you’ve  _ known _ this whole time?” Keith sounded a little hurt.

“It was probably a lot for him to process, Keith,” Shiro supplied, seeing the way Lance was almost folding in on himself. “We’d had time to think about our feelings. He probably wanted to be sure before he did anything.”

Lance nodded. “Exactly. And… I think I want to try… being with you. Both of you.” He was blushing now, avoiding eye contact, probably because he was embarrassed to admit his feelings. “Like, it’s so weird!” he suddenly burst out. “Like I like you both in different ways, but it’s still the same! Like Shiro is so sweet and warm and  _ safe _ but Keith is also safe and protective, but in a more ‘I’ll stab you if you hurt him’ kind of way.”

Shiro laughed openly at that statement because it was true. Keith just turned a little red on his nose and cheeks.

“So basically, I do like you both,” Lance concluded. “And I want to see where being together will take us.”

It was quiet again for a while. No one really knew how to follow that up, but all of their expressions were hopeful.

“Oh, my god!” Keith burst, finally. “Let’s just kiss already and move on!” They all laughed at his methods, but didn’t argue. Lance leaned into him and they both pulled in for a kiss at the same time.

“Fu--don’t  _ bite _ me!” Keith fussed.

“I thought you liked pain,” Lance countered.

“Shut up.”

Shiro rested his head in his palm, elbow on his knee as he watched them fondly. Then blue eyes turned to him and Lance slid away from Keith, taking the couple steps to where he sat, standing between Shiro’s knees as the Alpha sat up straight.

Lance hesitated only a moment before leaning down and placing a kiss to Shiro’s forehead. Shiro slid his hands up Lance’s sides, resting on his hips and let his eyes drift closed as Lance peppered kisses all over his face, notably lingering along the scar on his nose, before kissing him sweetly on the lips.

It was short and sweet, and honestly Shiro didn’t think it would have happened any other way with Lance. They stayed up chitchatting together, all three of them, and Shiro felt something like hope well up in his heart.

Since there was no way any of the beds were going to hold all three of them, Shiro opted to stay with Lance, since “Keith had gotten to already, so it was only fair,” or so Lance claimed. They said goodnight to the Beta as he left for his room. It would also give Keith time to himself to think, and Shiro supposed he really needed it recently.

He fell asleep the same way he had in the lounge couches: with Lance curled up in his arms, filling his nose with the scent of fresh rain. He nuzzled the back of Lance’s neck before falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some sketches of various parts of the story, I just have to figure out how to put them in. I can probably find out easily enough, but I'm a lazy ass, so it's just a matter of me actually doing it and scanning the sketches and all that. If I do manage to, I'll be sure to make a note in the next chapter update.


	10. Blade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some morning smut, then the Blade of Marmora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As stated in the chapter summary, the events of episode 8 of season 2 happen in this chapter. Time to bring in the angst.
> 
> This chapter is currently un-beta'd because I'm a piece of shit who forgets about the fic until the last minute (why I'm a couple hours late, literally just wrote this for you guys, it took longer than usual, I'm not quick at smut for some reason). So as per the previous chapters, as the edits come in, I'll edit, but nothing major should change.

Lance was woken by movement behind him, and he rubbed his eyes as he rolled over to inspect. Shiro must have been having a nightmare, his brow was pinched and he was sweating. Lance’s heart broke a little at the sight, and he wiped some of the sweat from the Alpha’s forehead, pushing his hair out of his face. He continued to card his fingers through the two-toned strands, nails gently raking along his scalp until the crease between his brows eased and his breathing settled.

 

Lance smiled to himself, pleased he’d been able to help. He curled up close, fitting himself against Shiro’s body to listen to his heartbeat. A groan rumbled loudly in his ear as Shiro shifted, waking from his slumber enough to pull Lance closer.

 

“Morning,” Lance whispered, nuzzling into Shiro’s neck over his scent glands in a lazy way. That stirred the Alpha a little more and the gesture was returned. Lance giggled as their scents mingled lightly in the air. It was blissfully domestic and Lance loved it.

 

“Good morning,” Shiro responded, voice full of gravel and husk that made Lance’s toes tingle when he heard it. “What time is it?”

 

Lance glanced to the ticker on his desk and thought through the morning haze to convert it to Earth-like terms.

 

“We have a few hours before we get to the Blade of Marmora,” he reported, wiggling a little until he was comfortable again. Shiro chuckled and ran a hand over Lance’s back. He practically melted at the touch, humming quietly in appreciation. “That’s nice.” He felt the air against his hair as Shiro laughed silently, no real energy to muster up a full one.

 

After a few minutes of cuddling and realizing neither of them were going to fall asleep again, Lance shifted and placed a kiss to the bottom of Shiro’s jaw. He smiled when Shiro took the hint and kissed him on the lips.

 

When the kiss broke so they could breathe, Lance stretched with a little moan as his back popped. As he relaxed back into Shiro’s arms, he wondered aloud, “You think Keith is awake?”

 

“Probably,” Shiro answered. “Might be on the training deck.”

 

Lance scrunched his face. “So early?”

 

“He’s got a lot on his mind right now,” Shiro told him. “He usually thinks while he beats up the training gladiator.”

 

Lance pouted. “Well I want to snuggle with him too. But I don’t want to get out of bed either.”

 

Shiro tried not to laugh and said, “That’s a serious dilemma then.”

 

Lance stuck his tongue out and looked over his shoulder at the wall between his and Keith’s rooms. Without another word, he knocked rather loudly on the wall just to check. They both strained to listen for a minute. Then Lance knocked again, in the rhythm of ‘A Shave and a Haircut’ because  _ no one _ could resist finishing that diddy.

 

The knock was actually met with what could only be described as punches to the other side of the wall, and both Shiro and Lance began laughing. Unsurprisingly, the door opened soon after and Keith walked right on in, face grumpy and hair disheveled.

 

“What the  _ fuck? _ Why are you awake?” he asked, coming over to crawl into the bed as well, causing a bit of an uproar, since they couldn’t all fit comfortably. The question went unanswered as they all shifted around trying to find a somewhat comfortable way to situate themselves.

 

They wound up with Keith and Shiro sitting with their backs to the wall and Keith leaning on his shoulder, with Lance’s torso draped over their laps and they chit-chatted while Keith played with Lance’s hair and Shiro rubbed his back.

 

Lance honestly didn’t know how to feel other than happy. They seemed to slip into place together so easily, it felt like they’d been together for longer than the handful of hours it had really been. It should have unsettled him, but he couldn’t help but relax against them.

 

Eventually, he got restless and kept shifting. Keith would tug at his hair a bit each time, with a little grunt from the weight digging into his thigh. Lance buried his face in Keith’s stomach and delighted when he felt his muscles tense and the hand in his hair pull him away.

 

“Are you  _ ticklish?” _ he asked with a wicked grin.

 

“Lance,  _ please _ don’t. I really hate it.”

 

And how could Lance say ‘no’ when Keith gave him  _ that _ look? It actually caught him off guard, how borderline hysteric Keith looked in that brief moment.

 

“Jeez, okay, don’t look like that,” he assured. “I mean, it’s less fun for me, but you probably have those reflexes that will get me killed on accident if I try anyways.”

 

“Probably.”

 

“See, I grew up with a big family, and there are no excuses to get out of tickle fights there. I’m being lenient and showing you mercy, so you should be grateful,” Lance teased with a slight smirk.

 

He missed the look Keith and Shiro shot each other above him, and suddenly he was being pinned to the bed by one and tickled by the other (he couldn’t tell which was which) and he laughed and kicked. It didn’t last long, as Keith’s lips found his own as he held him down (so it was Shiro working his fingers into Lance’s skin) and the movements turned significantly more pleasant.

 

His body shook when Shiro’s thumbs pressed against his hip bones and his breath hitched against Keith’s lips. They pulled apart an inch or two as the shift in atmosphere fell over them all and they tried to figure out what to do next.

 

Lance licked his lips and glanced at the clock for only a second before smirking up at them both and rising up to meet Keith’s lips again.  _ God, _ did Lance love kissing. Memories from the time during his heat flashed through his mind and he whimpered, lifting his hips into Shiro’s hands.

 

Keith pulled back and sat up, heaving in air before asking, “How much do we want to do, and how do we want to do it?”

 

“Whatever it is, I want to suck you both off at one point,” Lance piped in, already starting to grow half-hard in his pajamas as he sat up as well so they were all on the same level.

 

“Put that mouth of yours to good use,” Keith snarked back, kissing him again briefly. “So we agree we’re gonna get off?” He looked to Shiro and Lance followed suit.

 

“Any objections, big guy?”

 

That got Shiro to chuckle.

 

“I’m down with that,” he said.

 

“Yeah, but do you  _ want _ something?” Lance asked. “You can be selfish with us.”

 

“I think… just at the end, I want… to finish on both of you.”

 

Lance giggled and squirmed in anticipation. “I also want to feel your fingers inside me,” he said, almost a whisper. And to specify, he reached over and grabbed Shiro’s right hand. His  _ Galra _ hand. Shiro’s breath hitched a little and he nodded. “But I also totally want to eat out Keith’s ass!”

 

Keith nearly shrieked and shoved Lance off the bed. Lance laughed at how red the Beta’s face had gotten.

 

“You’re no fun!” he called from the floor as he sat up onto his knees and rested his elbows on the bed.

 

“I didn’t say ‘no’,” Keith said, still red, but also stubborn. “I just wasn’t expecting you to say it so blatantly like that, I guess.”

 

“So you’ll let me eat you out?” Lance asked, voice dropping to almost a purr as he crawled back onto the bed, directly into Keith’s lap, bumping their foreheads together.

 

“Only if you’re good at it,” Keith retorted with his own smirk. “Surely your tongue is skilled with how much you like to talk.”

 

“Regardless of what is going to happen,” Shiro began from beside them. “I think clothes are going to get in the way for all of us.”

 

“I like the way you think, Shiro,” Lance said before lifting his shirt up over his head and tossing it across the room.

 

“Smooth, Lance,” Keith said, grabbing his hands to stop him from taking off his pants.

 

“What?”

 

“This can be part of the fun too,” he said like it should have been obvious.

 

“I-it can?” Lance swallowed as Keith pushed him back against the mattress.

 

“Keith’s right,” Shiro said, crawling around and sitting with one leg off the bed because of lack of room. “This doesn’t have to be about getting it over with. You can savor every piece of it.”

 

Keith groaned quietly and leaned down to talk into Lance’s ear. “Let us show you, hm? This isn’t a heat. You can take your time and enjoy it.”

 

Lance was blushing with Keith’s voice resonating in his ear like that while Shiro ran his hands over Lance’s body, catching in the waistband on his pants. He lifted his hips a little, and Shiro pulled them down and off, tossing them to the chair.

 

“Wow, look at you,” Shiro said, almost in awe as he stared at Lance’s cock straining against the confines of his briefs.

 

“You even gonna last?” Keith teased as he trailed a finger over Lance’s chest, circling a nipple and raising goose bumps.

 

“Shut up,” Lance complained, though he was beginning to question if he really would last long at all. In an effort to feel like he was doing something, he dragged his hand up Keith’s leg and palmed at his erection. “You’re one to talk! Holy hell.” They chuckled, a little embarrassed at each other, and Lance began undoing the buttons of Keith’s pajama shirt.

 

“I think you should keep this on,” he remarked, running his hands over Keith’s abs. “It’s kinda hot.”

 

Keith didn’t ask or try to argue, lifting himself up so Lance and Shiro could both get rid of his pants.

 

“How do you manage to wear boxers and tight pants?” Lance asked, not really believing this was Keith’s choice in underwear.

 

“Are you really asking that right now?” Keith sounded exasperated.

 

“Yes! It’s a valid question! You wear tight pants all the time, but you wear  _ boxers?” _

 

Lance was distracted from the argument when Shiro pressed his leg between Lance’s pressing against him with his thigh and Lance shivered, back arching.

 

“Ugh, okay, fine, I’ll shut up,” he said, reaching to pull Shiro’s shirt up over his head. Shiro looked like he was going to hesitate, but it only lasted for a brief moment. Lance sat up, keeping his legs tangled with Shiro’s until they got in the way, and ran his fingers down the Alpha’s chest and further, shoving a hand into his pants and feeling him.

 

“God, you’re big,” he said without realizing he said it out loud, but the humored chuckle he heard told him he had. “I mean… you  _ are _ an Alpha, so I guess it makes sense. Oh.” He sat up straight, remembering something. “Can we… I mean, I don’t wanna… Is it okay if we don’t, um, put it in? We don’t really have condoms, so…”

 

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want,” Shiro assured him, leaning forward to kiss him. “We can stick to hands and mouths.”

 

“Okay, yeah,” Lance said with a nod. “Maybe we can find space condoms somewhere. ‘Cause I definitely want to feel you, both of you, in the near future. Inside me, that is.”

 

“You talk too much,” Keith said impatiently, coming up behind Lance and kissing the back of his neck, pushing him up against Shiro. “But we get it. We want to be in you too.”

 

Lance groaned and leaned his head back against Keith’s shoulder, pushing himself against Shiro’s leg again. Shiro pressed open-mouthed kisses to his neck and the Omega shivered almost violently in Keith’s arms, the room filling with his scent and Lance remembered Shiro telling him he smelled like rainfall. Lance didn’t think he smelled like that, but apparently you smell different to yourself than you do to others. Both of the men holding him groaned at the scent, and Keith leaned over Lance’s shoulder to press into Shiro’s filling the room with both mixing together.

 

Lance suddenly felt a surge of sadness that Keith didn’t have a scent they could mix in the air with them, and he brought a hand up to thread through the Beta’s hair. It must have frustrated him too, and apparently Lance wasn’t the only one who felt this way, as Shiro moved to kiss Keith fiercely on the lips. Lance tried to join, but three-way kisses are just messy and difficult, so Keith went back and forth, switching between them every few seconds.

 

When Shiro moved onto Keith’s neck, Lance got to kiss him for longer, delving his tongue in and tasting him as hands wandered. There was touching everywhere and soon any remaining clothing was discarded because it was in the way.

 

Lance found himself straddling Shiro’s lap backwards while Keith kissed him and stroked him. Lance trembled at the feeling of Shiro’s hardness between his cheeks rubbing over his wet entrance. Shiro’s hands were on his chest, making him twitch every so often from the stimulation.

 

Lance could have sworn he was going to die when Keith started kissing down his body. He grabbed onto long strands of hair as Keith’s warm breath hit his throbbing length, and he pulled tight when he was treated to his first feel of a mouth on him. Oh he was not going to last at all. After a short moment, he pulled Keith off of him, not wanting to cum so quickly before they’d really done anything.

 

“Too close,” he mumbled into Keith’s lips, leaning forward to push Keith back, laying at the far end of the bed. He nudged the Beta’s legs apart and touched him teasingly before pulling away from his mouth with a wet sound. Shifting himself down, he guided Keith’s hips to angle up a little, barely spreading his cheeks before diving right in, tongue swiping over his hole. Lance reveled in the way Keith’s entire body jumped, licking and sucking on and around the muscle.

 

Lance honestly lost track of Shiro during this, but he must have been doing other things to Keith because the Beta’s voice picked up, little moans slipping through his usually quiet lips. When those sounds were muffled, Lance looked, leaving his post for long enough to witness Shiro, standing beside the head of the bed, pushing his cock past Keith’s lips. His whole body pulsed with the knowledge that Keith was tasting his slick.

 

Still hungry for Keith, but not wanting to miss the show they were giving him, Lance licked his way to Keith’s twitching and leaking dick. He sucked a ball into his mouth, rolling it on his tongue and moaned at the way Keith’s body arched. Lance had no idea what he was doing, but he did his best to mimic what Keith had done to him earlier, taking in as much of his length as he could, tongue never stopping its movement. The way Keith’s hips were moving was enough to convince Lance he was doing at least decently.

 

He got a fleeting memory of a conversation they’d had before and Lance took a breath before daring to let his teeth barely scrape against the length in his mouth, brows furrowed in fear he would hurt him. But Keith was moaning out into open air, having pulled off of Shiro’s cock to watch Lance with eyes dark with arousal, pushing himself further into the Omega’s mouth.

 

Lance filled with confidence, grazing his teeth again, letting the point of a canine catch on a vein. Now that Keith wasn’t busy with Shiro (the Alpha had moved again; Lance had to get better at keeping track of him), he ran his hands through Lance’s hair, moving him at a quicker pace. Lance did his best to keep up, but he suddenly knew where Shiro had moved to: he was half perched on the edge of the bed just behind Lance, one hand stroking his dick and the other, the Galra hand, working his slick around his entrance.

 

Lance was reduced to a moaning mess as keith fucked up into his mouth and Shiro fingered and stroked him. As soon as Shiro found his G-spot, Lance was done for, almost squealing around Keith’s cock, trying desperately to not  _ bite down _ , as he came in Shiro’s hand, his cum soaking into the sheets beneath him. It was only after he began to come down from his orgasm that he realized Keith was filling his mouth with his own release.

 

Lance eagerly sucked it up, catching the last few drops from the tip as the aftershocks ripped through both of them. He swallowed instinctively when his mouth was full, panting hard against the Beta’s rapidly-softening dick. His mind was still in overdrive as he sought out Shiro, almost desperate to have him join them in ecstasy.

 

Both Keith and Lance sat up and they guided Shiro to sit on the bed where Keith had previously been laying. They took up positions on either side of him and almost fought over who was going to suck his dick. They fell into a sort of rhythm, taking turns sucking and just licking, even stopping to kiss each other over the head. Apparently it was enough, because soon Shiro was moaning and another bitter, tangy taste was on Lance’s tongue. Keith licked his cheek, where Lance could feel some of Shiro’s cum had dripped, and they kissed, making a mess of themselves and Shiro.

 

It was a hassle to clean up, having to rip off the sheets and dig new ones out of the closet, but once they were washed up and teeth had been brushed, they  _ made _ room on that bed for all three of them. Sure, some legs were dangling off the side, but they didn’t care.

 

Eventually they did have to report to the bridge. The universe didn’t wait all day, and they were approaching the Blade of Marmora’s base. The others just sent the three of them a knowing look, not commenting on the rather obvious hickies that Keith probably wasn’t aware were on his neck. Lance knew they all had them, and wore his proudly.

 

After Shiro and Keith left to the Blade of Marmora’s base, Lance mostly pouted in his seat. Why had Shiro chosen Keith to go with him on a mission involving politics? Keith really was too much of a hot head for situations like that. He supposed the Red Lion excuse was enough logically, but Lance still felt a little miffed that Shiro had just pushed him back like that. Lance had felt  _ tiny _ in Shiro’s hands then, and not in a good way.

 

Like he felt helpless. If things went south, obviously Keith would be the better choice to have around to fight or make a quick escape. Keith was always a better fighter. Lance shook his head, willing his thoughts to not stray that direction. Keith just always did his best; it wasn’t his fault.

 

As the hours passed, Lance began to worry. He didn’t like not knowing what was going on. He suggested they get a link with the Red Lion’s sensors, to at least have some idea what the atmosphere was like.

 

Later, he was glad he did, because Red started  _ attacking. _ Lance was immediately on edge. Keith had to be in trouble. Things had gone south, they must have. Why else would Red attack the base? He needed to get down there. The only thing keeping him in his seat was the visual of the blue star up on the screen reminding him he’d literally die if he tried to go in.

 

Then, last second, they were headed back, and Shiro sounded fine. They brought a couple Galra with them on board, and Allura was obviously not happy. Lance couldn’t help but think they looked really cool. Their armor was amazing and  _ did one of them have a tail? _

 

Once the initial curiosity was satisfied, Lance focused on Keith. He was standing behind Shiro, stiff in his armor and staring at the floor. He looked upset about something. Lance studied Shiro’s face, and sure enough he was tense. Something had happened. At the first lull in conversation, Lance spoke.

 

“Why did Red start attacking?”

 

Shiro looked almost guilty, turning to Keith, who just looked pained.

 

“It’s a long story,” Shiro said eventually. “Not really detrimental to defeating Zarkon at the moment, so I didn’t mention it.”

 

“Shiro, we have to tell them,” Keith said, voice strained and quiet, but everyone heard him.

 

“Tell us what?” Hunk asked.

 

Keith clenched his teeth. Lance actually took a step toward him, but held back from touching him, brow furrowed in worry.

 

“I’m part Galra.”

 

“Are you hurt?”

 

“What part of ‘I’m part Galra’ did you not understand, Lance?!”

 

“I heard what you said!” Lance’s blood was boiling. “But you’ve been stiff, and you’re going pale and swaying on your feet like you’ve lost blood! Are you hurt?” Keith met his eyes, and they were filled with all kinds of pain, physical and emotional. When he couldn’t deny it, Keith dropped his head and nodded. “Then get your ass to a healing pod before we talk about anything else.” He glared at the rest of the team, daring them to say something against it.

 

“I’ll go get a pod ready,” Coran said, obviously conflicted about his feelings, but ultimately concerned about Keith’s safety.

 

“Kolivan. Antok. Come with me and discuss all the measures the Blade of Marmora has in place to begin an attack against Zarkon,” Allura said, stiff and cold and closed off. Lance knew she was probably going to take it the worst but she would have to get over it.

 

As those three left, the Paladins helped Keith walk to the sick bay.

 

“Watch his right shoulder,” Shiro warned. “That’s the worst one, I think.” Keith leaned against Lance and the Omega placed a kiss to his temple even though he was covered in sweat.

 

As they helped Keith get out of his armor so he could wash before going into the healing pod, they all winced when his right shoulder was exposed. Immediately they decided he would receive a sponge bath instead of a shower to avoid any further injury. They all helped, but Shiro and Lance did the actual washing, Shiro mainly supporting Keith’s body while Lance took the time to inspect every scrape and bruise, frowning.

 

They didn’t talk other than the occasional “sorry” as Lance hit a particularly sore area. Lance hoped his earlier behavior showed Keith what was important for now.

 

Lance tried to give him a kiss before he went into the pod, but Keith turned away from him as if it would hurt him. Lance frowned, and pulled Keith back to him until he caved and let him kiss him quickly, putting up less of a fight for Shiro, since Lance had already made him, and it wouldn’t be fair to leave him out.

 

And then they waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also once again, I'm a lazy piece of shit who hasn't put any artwork in the story yet. I'll maybe go back and do one for each chapter or something. I'll be sure to make note in an update when I get it done. You shouldn't miss it.


	11. Cosmic Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: This chapter has been updated. I wasn't happy with how much I rushed it last week. I think this is better and addresses some of the things I want to explore with Keith.
> 
> This chapter skims over episodes 9-11. Very much skimmed. Like I don't even mention Slav. He'll definitely be in the next chapter though.
> 
> ALSO! THERE IS NOW ARTWORK! The first three chapters have sketches of our main three, basically as a way to give a general idea of what they look like. Also to kind of give you a taste of the style of art I want to use in this fic. ;)

Keith welcomed the warmth of the room as the cryo pod opened and he stumbled out, unable to even open his eyes right away. All he could register as his senses kicked in and his body fought the exhaustion was heat. Soon enough, his nose filled with Shiro’s scent and he relaxed into the embrace more, willing his thoughts to stay away for as long as possible.

Of course, that wasn’t possible. He was pried away from Shiro’s hold, and the only reason Keith wasn’t upset by that was that he recognized Lance’s voice and scent coming into the equation, and he opened his eyes to try and better understand what the Blue Paladin was trying to say.

“You look like shit.” He spoke instead of listened, distracted by the sight of Lance with literal bags under his eyes.

“Oh, thank god, you’re perfectly fine,” Lance said with a slight smile on his lips as he supported Keith’s weight until the Red Paladin could do it himself. “Insulting my appearance first thing is surely a sign of health.”

“How long was I in there?”

“It’s the middle of the night after you went in,” Shiro said, a comforting hand resting atop Keith’s shoulder. “The others are asleep and plans won’t be discussed until tomorrow.”

Keith frowned, his mind catching up to the events of the last two days and everything that had been learned. He itched and he felt like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin.

“Why didn’t you guys get some sleep too?” Keith asked. “Especially you, Shiro. The Blade put you through some trouble too.”

“You really think we could sleep when you’re in the pod?” Lance asked as if he was offended Keith had even suggested it. He began leading the group of them out of the room and toward the barracks. “Especially with the state you were in. I wasn’t about to let you wake up to an empty room and let you start thinking too much.”

“I thought I was usually the one not thinking enough before acting,” Keith said, leaning a little into Lance’s side, still regaining the finer movements in his muscles and risking some balance mishaps.

“That’s a different kind of thinking,” Lance clarified. “The kind of thinking you’re prone to is more internalized, and it messes with your rational perception of the situation.” He opened the door to his bedroom and pulled Keith inside as Shiro followed. Lance talked as they figured out a comfortable way to lay down on the bed with all three of them. “I’m still a little miffed that you didn’t want to kiss me earlier. But the more I thought about it, the more I figured it wasn’t really that you didn’t want to. You just like to keep everything at a distance while you figure it out, right?”

“I guess,” Keith said. “I… I’m sorry. I know you both deserve better than how I’m handling this. I honestly want to be alone, but I know that’s probably a really bad idea.”

“Definitely a bad idea,” Lance mumbled into Keith’s shoulder. Keith was curled up in front of Shiro, back to the Alpha’s chest, with Lance tucked up in Keith’s arms to keep him from tipping over the edge of the bed. That was Lance’s excuse, anyway. Keith suspected he had a good few inches of room on the mattress behind him.

The Omega began nuzzling almost furiously into Keith’s neck. Keith had seen many couples do this, including ones with Beta partners. It was supposed to release a kind of pheromone that raised levels of oxytocin in the brain, basically the equivalent of a really good kiss, or even as beneficial to the relationship as an orgasm if one or more of the participants was bonded. It was a form of scent marking, but instead of putting his scent on Keith, Lance was doing a motion that would have put Keith’s scent on him.

Except Keith didn’t really have a scent. And Keith certainly didn’t have any oxytocin-inducing pheromones to exude. The reality that he was even more different than he ever imagined growing up stung just behind his rib cage. He stiffened, turning his own head to try and push Lance’s away. Lance huffed and moved to rest his head on Keith’s shoulder instead, turning sideways with his legs off the bed.

They looked at each other in the darkness, only a slight glow that seemed to be ever-present ambience on the ship. Lance was reading Keith like an open book, and they both knew it, so neither of them said anything. Keith didn’t think that he  _ could _ say anything. Not yet, anyway.

It didn’t take long for Shiro’s quiet snoring to fill the room and the other two shared a small smile at the sound. The Alpha had been exhausted. They were all exhausted, and Lance couldn’t hide a yawn. Keith sighed and pulled the Omega back into his arms.

“Sleep,” he whispered. “We can talk later.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

They didn’t have much time to talk the next day. They were rushed into the main deck first thing in the morning, and only spoke briefly before Keith was sent out on a mission with Hunk to collect scaultrite from a Weblum.

Shiro pulled him close and gave a casual scent mark, just a single swipe of his neck over Keith’s chin, before claiming his lips and speaking softly.

“Don’t forget I love you, okay? I know it’s tough, but nothing has changed. And when you’re ready to talk stuff out, we’ll be here.”

“I know,” Keith responded, glancing over at Lance, who looked like a child waiting impatiently in line for his turn to sit in Santa’s lap at the mall. “I love you. Both of you.”

Lance’s face turned red as the words fell on his ears, and he rushed into the hug, wrapping his arms around both of them.

“Shiro’s right, Keith,” Lance almost whispered, as if it was a secret between them. “Nothing has changed and we’ll both be here for you.” There was a pause before he leaned in and kissed Keith as well. “Now go kick some Weblum ass.”

Keith’s brows pinched together.

“We don’t have to fight it, Lance. It’s an animal, we’re actually kind of trying to respect it, if Coran’s ramblings are anything to go by.”

“It’s a figure of speech, my little social butterfly.”

Before Keith could question Lance’s choice of pet names, Hunk was pulling him up into the Yellow Lion and they were off. 

The mission itself was relatively easy, even if they broke rule #1. The worst parts for Keith were the questions. Hunk was nice, but Keith sometimes wondered if he knew how his words made other people feel. And yet, Keith couldn’t be mad at him, because he obviously didn’t mean anything by it. It was just still so raw and new to Keith; he wasn’t great with jokes or even really talking about it at all, especially about Allura.

And then he’d encountered a Galra inside the Weblum, who turned out to be a thief who used them, and Keith was just as conflicted as before, possibly even moreso. What had a Galra been doing inside a Weblum? Did he need scaultrite too? Maybe, since he took some of it. But why would a Galra need scaultrite? The uniform wasn’t one he’d seen before, but the insignia was definitely for the Galra empire. He’d been desperately trying to cling to any hope of there being “good” Galra that he had to admit he’d been a little careless with this one.

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose as they were rushed immediately into rescuing the Balmera, a migraine beginning to form just behind his right eye. He didn’t have any thought to spare on his personal problems during the fight against the RoBeast. Allura was still doing her best to act like he wasn’t there. Hunk passive aggressively trying to help was doing anything but. Keith preferred it when she ignored him instead of glared at him like he’d kicked one of the mice or something.

He wanted to just scream at her that she was being ridiculous, but part of him also understood where she was coming from, because he wasn’t doing so well at liking himself at the moment either.

After rescuing the Balmera again and retrieving a ginormous crystal, they were headed back to Olkari to finish the giant teludav they’d agreed on for their master plan to take down Zarkon. Coran had insisted they not wormhole to conserve Allura’s energy that would be needed to work the giant teludav. Allura only agreed when he told her the machine wouldn’t be ready until after they arrived. Keith always admired her determination, even when she was treating him in a way that felt like she was twisting a knife into his gut. He hoped if he was still able to feel that way about her, that she felt the same way about him as before, just hidden beneath the shock and sudden news of his heritage. 

He spent the trip staring out one of the many windows in a hall, sitting with his back against the wall. It was a good distance from the main section of the ship, and not many of the others really ever cared to explore it. Lance had actually shown it to him, if he remembered correctly. It had been pretty early on in their trip, soon after they had left Arus and Lance was struggling with homesickness.

That had actually been the first time Keith felt something like love towards the Blue Paladin. The first that he had noticed and been unable to deny. Keith suspected there had been instances of his attraction even back in the Garrison, but Keith had been so preoccupied with Shiro and the Kerberos mission that he shoved it aside.

He smelled Shiro before he heard his footsteps, and soon enough, the Alpha was turning the corner and joined him in silence, watching the stars zoom past. After a few minutes, Keith shifted closer, actually climbing to sit sideways in Shiro’s lap, resting his head just under the Alpha’s chin and letting out a little sigh.

He didn’t know what it was, but wrapping himself in Shiro like this made it feel a little easier to bear with what was swirling around in his head. Like Shiro was helping bear the weight and holding him up as well. Keith felt like he could let go of some things and not worry about them. He wasn’t even sure which things he felt he could let go, and he didn’t know if it was anything specific at all or if it was all abstract things in his mind.

He’d never heard of anything like that before, and he thought it may have been a mental health thing, but with how consistent it was, and his urges to shuffle up to Shiro and even Lance like this made him wonder if it was more than that. He hadn’t really thought it might be until the time he’d instigated the reverse: when Shiro was having a hard time and Keith held him protectively under his chin, almost holding him down. He felt like he was telling the Alpha that it was  _ his _ turn to take the responsibility. Whereas, most of the time Keith felt like he was relinquishing the responsibility to someone else.

Keith sighed as his headache throbbed while he tried to understand something so abstract. Shiro’s hand rubbed up and down his back soothingly, and Keith began to talk. Mostly about what he’d just been wondering, and Shiro confirmed that he never really felt an urge to do that, nor had he heard of it being a normal occurrence in Betas or Omegas.

“Maybe you could ask Kolivan or Antok,” Shiro suggested a bit hesitantly, and Keith stiffened before forcing himself to relax with a sigh.

“Maybe,” he admitted. “It would be nice to know what kinds of things to expect. Maybe understand a little more about why I am the way I am.”

“I think it would be good for you to learn a little bit about it,” Shiro agreed. “It might help me and Lance too, if you ever feel like sharing some of that information with us.”

“If they have something that’s similar to bonding and scent marking, I think I’d want to try that. Maybe mixing human and Galra things together. Because honestly… I hate feeling so inherently different. Like scent marking is great and all, but I feel like… I don’t need it. It doesn’t do much for me instinctively. It is comforting to feel like you’re there with me, in a sense, but it’s not very primal. Like I don’t feel like I’ve been claimed or something.”

Shiro hummed in understanding as he listened. “Do you want us to stop marking you? Does it make you uncomfortable?”

“No, it’s fine,” Keith said quickly. “Your scents actually do calm me down when I’m anxious. But I think it also has to do with the fact that I don’t have the proper biology to really reciprocate.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like Betas have glands too,” Keith explained. “They just don’t have a very strong scent, but they have pheromones too, and they’re sensitive to other pheromones. I don’t think I have either. Honestly, the first time you scent marked me, it  _ itched _ like crazy. And instinct told me to wash it off, but I didn’t. That was really the only time it felt like that, and I think it was because it just hadn’t happened before and my body didn’t know what to make of it.”

“That is a little strange,” Shiro said. “I’ve never felt like you were lacking anything, though, if that’s what you were worried about.”

“Lance did.”

Shiro sat up straighter, frowning.

“Before his heat,” Keith continued. “He said he couldn’t smell anything from me. He said I didn’t smell like a Beta, but I couldn’t really be anything else. Guess he just didn’t know how to classify Galra scent.”

“I bet if you asked him now, he wouldn’t feel that way,” Shiro said. “His senses were probably going haywire back then. Smelling something unfamiliar was probably making his instincts paranoid.”

“I guess,” Keith said. They were quiet for a while longer, just sitting in each other’s embrace, until Allura announced their arrival to Olkari in five doboshes. Keith felt kind of bad for not spending some time talking with Lance, like he’d promised, but he was determined to find some time before the big mission began.

When they landed, Coran gave them a brief rundown of the progress on the teludav. They had a little bit of time before it was completed, so Keith set about trying to relax, retreating to his room as soon as possible. His headache hadn’t let up much since they’d entered the atmosphere, but finally being in the quiet was already helping.

He curled up in his bed and tried to steady his breathing. He didn’t know if he’d be able to actually sleep, but he could definitely rest.

At least until his door opened. He could tell it was Lance because he hadn’t knocked and he felt a weight on the edge of the bed beside him. The Omega’s presence and his scent settled over Keith, almost making him relax more. He knew exactly why Lance was here, and he scooted over so they could both lay down. Keith kept his eyes closed, but turned toward him, resting his head on Lance’s shoulder.

“Shiro told me about what happened,” Lance began. “At the Blade of Marmora. Well, he told me what he could. While you were in the healing pod, we talked a lot. And, yeah, a lot of shit went down, and you’re not exactly as molecularly human as you thought, but you’re still very  _ human. _ Even with Galra blood and DNA, you’ve always been human to me. I doubt I’d think any different even if you were purple and fluffy.”

Keith scoffed and lightly smacked Lance’s chest.

“Hunk tried to see if my skin was purple.”

Lance chuckled. “He would.”

There was quiet for a moment, then Keith sighed.

“I’m just scared,” he whispered. “I don’t know how I’m affiliated with the Galra, not specifically. And I’m not sure I want to know. But sometimes it’s just so  _ obvious _ . I’m different. All I’ve ever wanted was to belong, and I was starting to have that, and now it’s taken from me. I don’t even know if there are any other part-human-part-galra people in existence in the entire universe. That’s so… isolating. I feel like I’m back in that shack in the middle of the desert.”

Lance ran his fingers through Keith’s hair as he listened.

“Do you remember what Pidge said?” Lance asked.

“Pidge says a lot of things: most of which I don’t understand.”

Lance chuckled. “About everything being connected. That we’re all made of the same cosmic dust. And do you remember what  _ you _ said in relation to that?”

“...We’re all related, even the Galra.”

“I think you were right.”

Keith huffed against Lance’s chest, finally opening his eyes even though he could barely see anything in the darkness.

“Look,” Lance continued. “I’m just going to tell you how I think and let you do with it what you will. I said before that you being part Glara doesn’t matter. I think I just worded it wrong. It does matter, but it doesn’t change anything. Just like how I’m an Omega, but  that doesn’t define who I am. It’s just something that makes us unique. It’s a part of you, but it  _ isn’t _ you. And I think it’s dangerous to get caught up in that mindset that this is all you are.”

“I really don’t deserve you,” Keith murmured. “Why do you always know exactly what to say?”

“It’s part of my charm.” Keith could hear the smirk in Lance’s voice. “It somehow worked on you and Shiro, didn’t it?”

“I can definitely guarantee it wasn’t your ‘charm’ that drew me in,” Keith said. “It was simply you.”

Lance made a noise that caused Keith to sit up in alarm, staring down at him as he shrieked.

“You can’t just  _ say _ things like that!”

“Oh, come  _ on! _ You flirt all the time, but I can’t be honest?”

“Absolutely not!”

“You are insufferable.”

Lance went oddly quiet. “I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I know I can be a lot to handle sometimes. I’m sorry if I go too far.”

“Wha--no, that’s not what I--”

“Honestly, sometimes I  _ try _ to be too much. It’s kind of like a way for me to leave my mark with the group, so to speak. Have an impression. Contribute in some way.”

“Lance.”

“Look, I know, okay? I know I’m more than that. Hunk chewed my ear off earlier today. Cornered me in the bathroom. Can you believe that?”

“Wow.”

“Right? Anyways, it’s something I struggle with when I’m away from my family. Because I  _ have _ to fit in and belong there, even if I literally do nothing, because it’s family. Thing is, Shiro heard part of our conversation, so then I had  _ another _ conversation about it with him. And I’m trying. I really am. It’s just been drilled into my head so much that I’m not good enough or I’m too this or too that… So I guess I’m just a little sensitive about it at the moment, since I’ve talked about it so much today, and then  _ we _ were talking about serious stuff and the insufferable comment kind of caught me off guard…. So, now you know. It’s kind of a constant struggle for me. It doesn’t get bad very often, but it can.”

“I like all that stuff about you though.” Lance tilted his head in question, so Keith elaborated. “I like when you’re insufferable. When you use ridiculous pick up lines, because I know you’ve put thought into them, even if they are terrible. I like when you get excited over little things like mermaids and parties. I love when you tell Hunk he did a good job and praise his cooking, and when you pull pranks and talk memes with Pidge.”

Lance gasped. “You know what a meme is?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Only the really over-used ones, I think.”

“Well, that’s kind of the point of a meme.”

“I suppose.”

“But, dude.”

“What?” Keith asked, a little offended Lance had called him ‘dude’.

“Seriously, thanks. For all that stuff you said. Also, you totally said you love me.”

“I did not.”

“You did so. Yesterday, before you left for the Weblum.”

“I… can’t deny that.”

“Ha!”

“But it is true.”

Lance was really quiet for a moment.

“I… really  _ really _ like you. I don’t know if I’m ready to call it love yet. For Shiro too.”

“That’s fine,” Keith said, moving back into place against Lance’s side. “Take as long as you need.”

They chit chatted for a while, finally feeling better, at least with each other. Keith knew Allura was a whole other hurdle to jump, and it would have to wait for another day. For now he simply wanted to spend the time before what might possibly be their last mission with his boyfriends.

It was a strange word to think. Boyfriends. He supposed he could use lovers or mates. But boyfriends made him feel a little giddy and lightheaded, and he liked it.

Shiro found them, maybe an hour after Lance had come into the room, making out half asleep. He easily joined them, filling Keith’s ears with many of the same affections Lance had. They were so worn out, that they quickly fell into slumber.

In the morning, the crick in Keith’s neck made him seriously consider asking Coran about getting a bigger bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are rapidly approaching the end of season 2. As much as I hate to admit it, I am intending to finish this story up around that point in the timeline. When season 3 comes out, I'll be making the decision of what to do with a sequel: if it will follow the canon season 3 like this one did with season 2, or if I will have to completely veer away from canon. Obviously I would prefer to keep with canon. We shall see later this year.
> 
> In relation to this story coming to an end, I would like to compile a Q&A type thing to post when it's over, so if you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask them. I'll be going through old comments as well to pull any questions, so even if I've answered them to you individually, I will include it in case anyone else was also curious.
> 
> In all honesty, I think there's only going to be 2 more chapters. 3 at most.


	12. Black Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last two episodes of season 2 from Shiro's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically just the last two episodes with a few extra things.
> 
> Confession: I wrote the 2nd half of this while totally drunk. I'm drunk right now as I'm posting it. We'll see if it actually made a difference in my writing.
> 
> Sorry for being so late with this one. Life has been a total douche bag. Hence the drinking. But I'm fine. Just wallowing in self misery for a day. And I wouldn't be so drunk if Kroger sold fuckin single servings of my fav alcohol, but nooo I had to buy a 12 pack.
> 
> Anywhoozle, there's only going to be one more chapter after this one. Sad faces, I know. But! You can expect more from me elsewhere. I'll give details at the end of the last chapter. Too drunk to think at the moment.
> 
> God bless autocorrect.

Shiro paced nervously in the Black Lion’s hangar. He was fully suited up and ready to go way earlier than he needed to be. He’d woken before Keith and Lance and snuck off to do some light training. He needed to keep his mind occupied.

 

It wasn’t working.

 

He was worried. What if his bond with Black still wasn’t as strong as Zarkon’s? Could they still do this mission if they couldn’t form Voltron on the other side of the wormhole? What if the teludav didn’t work? What if the space pocket didn’t last? What if Allura couldn’t keep the wormhole open? What if it hurt her? What if the Druids became a bigger problem? What if? What if? What if?

 

He felt Black pushing at the edges of his mind, trying to calm him down. His heart rate dropped to a reasonable level, but his mind was still in overdrive. It was the first really big mission since he’d gotten together with Keith and Lance. And he loved them both, he really did. He trusted Lance to handle himself well in the heat of battle, but he also knew that Lance wasn’t as skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and it might come down to that if things went south. Shiro didn’t want Lance anywhere near the Druids. He shuddered at the thought of what would happen if they got their hands on him. And while Keith could hold his own in a fist fight, he had a tendency to rush into things without thinking them through.

 

And it was all on Shiro’s shoulders to lead them in the right direction should something go wrong with the plan. That had always been his role, ever since they came out to space and Lance asked what they should do. He honestly didn’t feel qualified to be a leader, but it was kind of thrust upon him.

 

He was just about to head to the bridge to see if Allura was ready to depart, when the door to the hangar opened and Lance walked in. He wasn’t geared up yet, probably waiting for the order to do so. Shiro’s breath caught in his throat. He loved this boy so much, and his anxiety was telling him he might not see him again.

 

“There you are,” Lance said airily, coming to stand in front of him. He waved up at the Black Lion in greeting, something he did with all the Lions, treating them as equally a part of the team as anyone else.

 

Shiro couldn’t help himself. He leaned his head on Lance’s shoulder and pulled him close by the waist. Lance let out a small surprised noise, but returned the embrace. And he seemed to get it without Shiro having to say anything. At least the important parts.

 

“Hey now,” he whispered, slipping Shiro’s helmet off his head so he could run his fingers through his hair. “Don’t you go worrying on me now. We made it out last time we faced Zarkon. Barely, but we didn’t even have a plan that time or a full team. Our chances are better than last time. And we all trust your leadership, even if you don’t trust yourself.”

 

Shiro chuckled wryly. “You are amazingly perceptive. How do you always know exactly what to say?”

 

“Keith asked me the same thing,” Lance mused. “I honestly don’t know. Maybe it was the big family growing up. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t even realize I’m doing it most of the time.”

 

Shiro turned his head, rubbing their necks together gently and finding relief in the pleased hum that Lance gave, returning the gesture. Then he stood up straight, so they could look at each other.

 

“I told Keith that if something happens to me, I want him to lead Voltron,” Shiro admitted.

 

“What?” Lance took a step back from him, flinching. “Don’t talk like so--”

 

“It’s just a precaution,” Shiro promised. “My mind can get carried away sometimes. And _if_ something were to happen to me… I want you and Keith to lead Voltron. Together.”

 

There was silence for a moment, and neither of them looked away. Shiro could see Lance’s mind sorting through all kinds of thoughts.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because you make a good team,” Shiro responded without hesitation. “Keith might be good at following through with orders and even taking initiative. But he’s a little shortsighted. You’re good at seeing the bigger picture. You’re good at getting people to work together. I couldn’t think of a better team to take my place if something were to happen.”

 

Shiro reached out to brush away a tear that had fallen down one of Lance’s cheeks as he talked. The Omega leaned into the touch, turning to place a kiss to his gloved palm.

 

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you or anyone else,” Lance said with determination. “So it doesn’t matter.”

 

Shiro’s chest tightened at the contradiction in the tone of his voice with his words. But he understood the need to believe they would succeed.

 

“You’re right.” He pulled him close again and kissed him, trying not to let his own worry and insecurities show through it.

 

They pulled apart when Coran called them to the bridge over the PA system, and passed by Keith’s room on the way, so they could all walk together. Shiro wasn’t sure if maybe they both could pick up on his anxiety, but they took up positions on either side of him, and their presence around him was comforting.

 

Allura instructed them to begin getting into position around the teludav while she said their farewells to the Olkarans with Coran, Kolivan, and Slav (“To keep an eye on him.”) and then they would begin the long trek to where they would set their trap.

 

Shiro could do little more than share a quick kiss and scent mark with Keith and Lance before they had to go their separate ways and slip into battle-ready mode. They found their spot and the plan was starting. Slav would hide the teludav and the ship while Shiro lured Zarkon into position with the Black Lion.

 

Zarkon took the bait. He was on his way. But the Blade of Marmora hadn’t heard back from Thace, their man on the inside. They wanted to abort the mission, but it was too late. They needed someone to plant the virus.

 

Shiro’s heart nearly stopped when Keith spoke up. He didn’t want Keith to do it. But he knew they didn’t have any other options. His heart clenched as they went forward with the plan.

 

He didn’t have much time to worry. Zarkon’s fleet arrived and Shiro was buying Keith time to get on board and infect the ship. Then he was luring them into position beneath the teludav. The other Paladins quickly came to give him some cover and things started to feel better. They were mostly on track.

 

And then the gravity generator died and the teludav and the castle were sitting ducks. Keith still hadn’t taken down Zarkon’s ship’s power.

 

“Come on, Keith,” Shiro whispered. The only way they could make it now was if Zarkon’s ship died before he could do anything. Allura began powering the teludav in the hopes that Keith could get the ship’s power down by the time they reached the other side of the wormhole. He held his breath.

 

Finally, the system went down and the Blade began uploading the virus. The Red Lion joined the fray, snatching Keith from open space where he’d apparently been ejected. Shiro didn’t know how his heart could still be working. He was mildly concerned he would suffer a stroke before they could finish this. At least he was breathing again.

 

“Thace did it,” Shiro heard Keith through his helmet. He’d have to ask for details later.

 

The wormhole was formed and pushed over Zarkon’s ship, his fleet unable to withstand its power and exploding. The castle followed along with the Lions.

 

“Coran, how’s Allura?” he asked.

 

“She’s weak but okay.”

 

Shiro sighed with relief. They just had to finish this. “You take care of her. We’ve got it from here.”

 

As they pushed through on the other end of the wormhole, things were starting to look up.

 

“We did it! I can’t believe we did it!” he heard Pidge in his ear.

 

“See? I told you we could do it.” Shiro’s eye twitched at Slav’s voice. The little thing had just been screaming about how they had no chance when the gravity generator shut down.

 

“It’s not over yet,” Shiro reminded them. “Everyone. Form Voltron!”

 

*

They formed Voltron and headed for Zarkon’s ship.

 

“We gotta act fast!” Shiro instructed. “The power will only be down for twenty minutes. The Blade of Marmora’s schematics show four targets we need to hit. The weapons systems, the engines, the bridge, and the shield generators. Now, let’s put an end to Zarkon, once and for all!”

 

The others gave a shout of agreement.

 

“Form sword!” he ordered.

 

They sliced a destructive path along Zarkon’s ship.

 

“Hit the engine systems!” Shiro yelled, once they had started their assault. They proceeded to take out what they could of the ship, smashing and blasting and tearing their way through it.

 

“Stay focused. We’ve neutralized the engines,” Shiro said, keeping the team focused and steady. “Let’s target the bridge.”

 

As they made their way toward their target, a strange black and purple force manifested below them.

 

“What is that?” Lance asked through the comms.

 

Suddenly, a wave of dark energy ripped through Shiro’s head and he screamed. Part of him heard the other screaming too, but he could only think of how much it hurt. He felt it not in himself, but through his lion. Black was in agony and it tore Shiro to shreds to feel that pain.

 

Then everything went black and eerily still.

 

“--dins, can you hear me?” Shiro jolted awake at Allura’s voice.

 

“Yes, princess,” he said, knowing he should make her aware of his condition right away. “We’re alive.” He felt like he would have known if the others had died.

 

“Is Voltron operational?”

 

“It’s not working,” Hunk said through the comms.

 

Keith grunted. “I can’t move my lion.” Shiro almost hated how much his heart leapt at his voice.

 

“You’ve been hit with some sort of magic that draws the quintessence out of you,” Coran said. “You need to get out of there. Another blast like that and you may not survive.”

 

“Wait.” It was Lance. Shiro’s heart soared. Both of them were alive and well. “What’s that?”

 

They all watched as something horrendous emerged from Zarkon’s ship. Some sort of… battle suit….

 

“You must get moving,” Allura instructed. “Remember your training. Remember all the battles you’ve been through.”

 

“Voltron’s still not responding,” Shiro reported, trying his damndest to get his Lion to wake up. The new suit that came from the ship finally finished its ascent and Shiro’s mind was invaded and probed, similarly to when Zarkon was fighting him on another plane.

 

“It’s Zarkon,” he informed the rest, and the suit began its course straight toward them.

 

“Listen to me,” Allura said. “You are true Paladins now. Connect with your lions. Reach out to each other! Fight! This cannot end now!”

 

Shiro almost began to panic as Zarkon advanced on them, with Voltron unoperational. But then the castle was firing on him and buying them time to get their shit together. He prayed a silent thanks to the princess.

 

The blast was so intense, it backed Zarkon into his own ship, but the blast was… reflecting off of him? It angled off into distant space, then swerved and angled toward the castle and Shiro heard Allura scream in agony. He felt his blood boil.

 

“Allura!”

 

There was silence from the castle, and they all could feel the intensity of the situation.

 

“Everybody,” Shiro began, feeling himself swell with what he could only describe as his final moments. “Listen. We have to fight. We have to channel all our energy, visualize five becoming one. We have to focus everything we have into moving Voltron. We are the last thing standing in the way of Zarkon’s total universal domination. I’m not giving up that fight! Are you, Hunk?”

 

“No.” He was determined.

 

“Pidge?”

 

“Never.”

 

“Lance?” No one noticed if this name emerged more tenderly than the others.

 

“Let’s go down swinging.”

 

“Keith.” It was softer, almost resigned, the way he said the name. Shiro didn’t know why, but he felt like he wouldn’t make it, but that the others would. There was a lot he wedged into Keith’s name. So much responsibility he was shoveling onto him, but he would share it with Lance, Shiro was sure.

 

“I’m all in.”

 

Zarkon’s suit formed a strange weapon at its side just as Voltron flickered to life again.

 

“Then let’s get Voltron back in this battle!” Shiro growled as he felt Voltron coming back full swing, and forming the sword again just as Zarkon reached them.

 

They fought for a while, discovering new and frankly terrifying things about Zarkon’s suit: mainly its shield.

 

“We’ve never faced anything this powerful before,” Pidge felt the need to remind them all.

 

“One way or another,” Shiro said, “this may be our last battle. We’ve got to give everything we have. Dig deep and fight!” Shiro was quite honestly planning to die at this point. But he was going to be damned if he didn’t help them fuck shit up firs.t

 

Locked in combat with Zarkon, Shiro could feel him trying to force Black away.

 

“He’s trying to control my lion,” he told the others. “I can feel him in my mind!”

 

“Fight it, Shiro!” Keith called to him. They pressed onward as one, and Shiro was hanging on, but Zarkon kept revealing more and more terrifying things. His weapon had again changed and was latched onto them, sending currents of quintessence through them and it was so painful it broke Voltron apart.

 

And everything went dark.

 

When he came to, the others were still fighting to protect him and the Black lion and he felt a surge of pride for his fellow Paladins.

 

Suddenly, Lance was hit and screaming in pain and Shiro’s heart clenched. Next was Pidge. He needed to _do_ something. He couldn’t just sit here while they died for him.

 

A panel rose in the cockpit and Shiro stared at it. It looked like a bayard could fit exactly into it. Black was nudging him in the corners of his mind. He knew what he had to do.

 

Keith’s shouts of pain rang through his ears as he began charging Black directly at Zarkon. He felt their bond through everything they’d endured and shared together as he approached, and he felt _something_ special as they passed through where Zarkon was set in space. In a dazzlingly bright light, he felt them pass each other on the same plane they’d fought before.

 

“Whoa. What did you do?” Lance asked. Apparently the others saw something similar to what he’d felt.

 

“I’ve got Zarkon’s bayard,” he said hesitantly, he almost didn’t believe it, but there it was, reverting back to its normal shape in his hand.

 

“You mean you’ve got _your_ bayard,” Keith corrected him and he felt so much love for them both swell in his chest along with the others.

 

“We’ve only got a few minutes left before power returns to Zarkon’s ship,” Shiro warned. “Form Voltron!”

 

They did, and were facing off against Zarkon one-on-one again.

 

“Aha! Hello, Paladins!” they heard Coran over the comms. Shiro sighed with relief. The ship was back up and running. The others expressed similar sentiments.

 

“Is everyone okay?” Shiro asked.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine!” Slav called, instantly souring Shiro’s enthusiasm. “Don’t worry, guys!”

 

“Oh, great,” Lance said, mirroring Shiro’s internal tone. “Slav made it.”

 

“The power on Zarkon’s ship is returning!” Coran warned as they saw the lights swell back to their ominous purple. “We need to get out of here! I’m going to get Allura!”

 

Voltron was getting into its last bout with Zarkon.

 

“This is our last chance!” Shiro shouted. “Let’s finish this!”

 

They all pushed forward and were locked right up in Zarkon’s personal space, blade stuck in his suit’s abdomen. Zarkon grabbed against Black’s main cockpit and Shiro felt a sense of foreboding.

 

They were both straining. He could feel it. The panel beside him flashed glaringly at him, so he shoved his bayard into it and twisted with abandon, feeling like he might die at any moment now. It was so much, he felt like his skull was caving in.

 

He managed to see Voltron’s blade erupt into flames. They all force it up together and shred Zarkon.

 

Shiro can’t be certain if it actually finishes him off, because he’s passing out and he can feel it, but he feels his heart swell with pride as he does.

 

He can only hope he’ll wake to their smiling faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you noticed the * randomly, that's where I started writing while drunk. Omg. I'll probably be embarrassed by this tomorrow. But oh well!


	13. Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faith is confidence of what we hope for. The assurance of what we cannot see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ROFL look at me using the Bible in a smutty fic. But it kind of fits. :P
> 
> So just in case people find this fic down the line and are confused, THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER of this fic. Anything that might be posted after is only for notification purposes, as I am continuing to add artwork within the chapters.

Lance’s brain was in overdrive. He felt he should feel more panicked than he did, and it scared him a little bit, but he was too focused on Keith, gauging him. The first day he was angry. Furious. Searching every inch of the castle just in case the scanners were wrong and Shiro was playing a cruel trick on them. By the next morning, he was just plain stressed. His hands tangled in his hair, tugging and ripping them from his scalp at an alarming rate.

Pidge was immediately working on some sort of algorithm or scanner to find Shiro’s bio-signature. Lance didn’t completely understand how it worked, but it was basically the same tech they already used on the ship, just amplified. No one spoke the worries that hung in the back of all their minds.

What if Shiro was gone?

Like, for good?

Lance shook his head as he walked through the halls on the third day. He just needed to move. Voltron was obviously on hold for the moment, and Allura had told them to rest. He didn’t think any of them were truly resting. He passed an extra room (there were many on this ship) and paused to look, because the door was open.

He instantly felt like he was intruding. It was Kolivan, the leader of the Blade of Marmora, kneeling in the middle of the floor. Lance couldn’t see his face, but his head was bowed, almost like in prayer, and some kind of incense was burning on the desk, finally reaching his nostrils. Lance didn’t know what was going on, but it felt very private even though the door was open. He tried to be quiet and tiptoe past.

“You may ask your questions.”

Lance whipped back around, startled. Kolivan hadn’t moved, but that had definitely been his voice. Lance froze, just to be sure. He saw the galra let out a heavy breath before he raised his head and stood, turning to him.

“Come in.”

It wasn’t quite an order, and Lance was under no obligation to obey him anyways, but he actually sounded… strangely vulnerable. And Lance connected with that. They were all feeling a little vulnerable at the moment. So he stepped over the threshold and the door shut behind him. Kolivan sat himself on the edge of the bed and gestured for Lance to take the chair by the desk, near the incense that was still burning. It made him a little dizzy, but once he sat, he was fine.

Lance didn’t really know what to say, but he wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable. He remembered Kolivan to be very large physically, but as he sat he seemed… small.

“Antok…” Lance almost jumped at the voice, having started to get used to the silence. “...was a very dear friend and comrade. I was mourning his loss. I do not keep too many of the Galra traditions, because most of them were stemmed from Zarkon’s rule and authority. But the importance of life has been something I greatly value, and that is where Zarkon failed. He did not appreciate those who died for him, and he died for no one but himself.”

Lance listened, still not really knowing how to contribute, but part of him suspected maybe Kolivan didn’t need someone to talk back. He did think it strange for a moment, wondering if someone else had walked past, would they be the one sitting here listening to him?

“It is somewhat of a ritual, to meditate over a lost soul.”

“We do something similar on Earth,” Lance provided when there was a pause. “People do it differently depending on the country, but almost everyone prays for someone’s soul to find peace, even if they say they don’t believe in a life after death.”

“Earth sounds very diverse,” Kolivan said. “How many of these countries are there?”

“More than I could count. Hundreds, I think.”

“Do the Paladins come from different countries? I noticed variations in skin tone and skeletal structure; is that the cause?”

“Kind of,” Lance said. “I’m pretty sure we’re all from different countries, but we studied space travel in the same place. That’s why we were all together when we found the Blue Lion.” He paused, thinking. “Things could have gone a lot different. Earth is a big planet and we just happened to all be there at the same time.”

“I doubt it was coincidence,” Kolivan said. “That all five Paladins were in the same place had to have been destiny.”

“I’m still kind of surprised that all five Paladins wound up being human,” Lance admitted. “We’d never encountered aliens, as far as the public knew. Yet somehow Keith is part Galra and was on Earth.” He frowned. “Do you know how that could have happened? Someone from the Blade of Marmora had to have been on Earth before Keith was born.”

Kolivan sighed. “I believe it was before I was the leader. I know not any details of interaction with Earth.”

Lance nodded, still thinking.

“Is there…” He paused, gathering his thoughts. “Is there something I can do for Keith? Humans have very particular behaviors and responses, and a lot of them have to do with scent, but Keith is touchy about it. He doesn’t really have that and I think it bothers him. I just… I want him to know that being part Galra doesn’t matter. And I think learning about the Galra side of him will help. He probably won’t ask for a long while, so I hope it’s not rude of me to ask about it now.”

“You have a very unique case,” Kolivan agreed. “I know not which traits of his Galra heritage carried over. I do not even know how much Galra blood runs in his veins.”

“It might not be much. Wouldn’t he be purple with fluffy ears if he was half?” Lance joked. “Though I suppose they could be recessive genes.”

“I will assist in what ways I am able,” Kolivan said. “What exactly is troubling the Red Paladin at the moment?”

“Well one of his boyfriends is missing,” Lance said. “That seems to be the biggest issue. He gets stir crazy, and we can’t really do anything at the moment.”

“What is a ‘boyfriend’?”

“Oh, um… like a mate?”

“I see,” Kolivan nodded. “And you are also one of his mates?”

Lance gave a bit of an embarrassed chuckle. “Yeah, I guess I am. We were kind of a new thing when this all went down. I do know Keith was a lot closer to Shiro than I was. Is. Am.” He frowned. “Anyways, they’re close, and for a long time, Shiro was the only person he was close to at all. He’d lost Shiro before, thought he was dead, and he actually got kicked out of the Garrison for behavioral issues. So I guess you could say I want to know ways to help calm him down and reassure him that he’s not alone and stuff.”

Kolivan seemed to actually deliberate on a solution and Lance felt a surge of gratitude. He would have to inform him if his advice worked.

“Galra are very basic creatures,” he said. “Though I suppose the human element mixed in will make it difficult. Most Galra take refuge in mating, even if reproduction is not the intention or outcome.”

Lance felt a light blush rising to his cheeks.

“I guess humans tend to do that too,” he said. “And we’ve definitely been intimate, but I’m not sure how he’ll feel without Shiro there, given the situation. Plus he’ll probably want to… be the one, you know, on top. Do you know what that means?”

“I can gather.”

“Thank God,” Lance sighed. “But yeah, I think he’ll want to be that way when we like, go all the way, and I don’t really want to risk…” He paused, subconsciously rubbing his stomach. “I have the ability to carry children, and we now know it’s possible for Galra and humans to reproduce, so it’s still a very real outcome. And I know neither of us are ready for that, and we don’t really have a way to prevent it--”

“This ability to carry young as a male is a human trait, I assume,” Kolivan interrupted his rambling. Lance nodded. “It is not the same for Galra; only females can carry young. Are all males of your species capable of this?”

“No, only some men and most women,” Lance explained.

“And are you aware if the Red Paladin has this capability?”

“Um… I don’t think he does,” Lance thought aloud. “Coran said I was the only one with a womb, and he’s never had a heat, so it’s very unlikely. Why?”

“I think you’ll find he’s going to be a lot more willing to let you ‘top’, as you described. A Galra in distress will easily submit to someone they trust and even will encourage handing over the responsibility in a physical manifestation.”

Lance’s jaw dropped as he tried to imagine it. For some reason, he couldn’t really picture Keith’s fiery personality actively submitting to him. But he thought back to how he dealt with inner turmoil and how he’d avoided it. He’d seemed so small.

“He’d probably deck me if I just asked him though.”

Kolivan actually chuckled, and it sounded almost like a cat’s purr. Lance couldn’t help but wonder if Keith could make sounds like that.

“There are ways you could go about it without needing to use words,” Kolivan said and stood, crossing the room. “If you have the time, I can assist you in learning some basic Galra mating rituals that should give you some sort of understanding. It’s up to you to combine it with human mating and see what works and what doesn’t.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually going to agree to listen to Galra sex-ed, but I honestly am going to take all the help I can get.”

* * *

Lance wiped his palms on his jeans, getting a little nervous. Keith had left dinner early, barely touching his food, and he’d seemed so distraught. He wasn’t even angry anymore, he just constantly looked constipated or in pain. He hadn’t said more than a few things to Lance, but he was constantly touching him, little reminders that they were there for each other.

After his talk with Kolivan, Lance came to the realization that the reason he was so calm was because he had a gut feeling that Shiro was safe, wherever he was. Blue had been fairly calm inside his head, gently pushing him away when he asked about the Black Lion, but in a way that seemed more like “don’t worry about it.”

He made eye contact with the Blade leader from across the room and stood to excuse himself and follow Keith. He had stopped at an intersection in the halls and looked like a lost kid. Lance approached slowly, sliding his arms around Keith’s waist and resting his chin on top of his head. He had to kind of stretch to be able to do it comfortably, but he didn’t care.

Keith leaned back into him. The hallway to the left led to their rooms, the one straight ahead led to the lions’ hangars, and the one to the right led to the training deck.

“You want to train?” Lance asked quietly. He felt Keith nod.

“But I don’t have the energy.”

“Want to turn in early?”

“My mind is too busy to sleep.”

Lance hummed in understanding. “Well, I find spending time with Blue to be very calming. You could hang out with Red for a while.” He was quiet as Keith seemed to still be thinking over it. “Or we could still turn in early, but not sleep.”

He felt Keith give a small scoffing breath, but it was laced with amusement.

“I miss him too, you know,” Lance whispered and felt Keith stiffen in his arms. “He’s fine, wherever he is. Don’t you think the Black Lion would be freaking out if it were any other way? We just have to wait for Pidge to find him.”

“I hate waiting.”

“But you can be here for him when he gets back. It’s harder to wait than it is to go running after him. But it’s also important, knowing you have someone to get back home to. So I guess I’ve accepted it and plan to give him the best welcome home present I can give him: faith that he’ll come back.”

Keith turned to face him, burying his face in Lance’s chest, sighing deeply and clinging to his shirt. Lance held him tighter, nuzzling his hair.

“Let’s go lay down, okay?”

Keith nodded and they made their way back to Shiro’s room, where they’d been sleeping since he disappeared, because his scent still lingered on all the things in it. They settled in comfortably, Keith draped across Lance’s body, and they didn’t say much. Lance’s heart was pounding in his chest. They hadn’t ventured into more sexual touching without Shiro, but Lance knew they both were a little frustrated.

He ran through the things Kolivan told him about, noting that a couple of them had already worked as he’d been implementing them in a publicly appropriate way. Keith had responded well to all of them so far, and he didn’t know if Keith was simply waiting for Lance to make the first move, or if he honestly didn’t want it.

Lance dragged his fingers lazily up Keith’s back, dragging his shirt with it and revealing his skin. Keith sighed, relaxing against him even more. He let his other hand begin running through the long, dark hair that was tickling under his chin, moving the strands out of Keith’s face. Keith hummed and shifted to look up at him. He had a small smile on his lips and Lance’s heart skipped a beat.

“You’re beautiful.”

Keith snorted and smacked his chest playfully.

“It’s true!” Lance argued.

“You’re so cheesy,” Keith grumbled, flopping over onto the mattress beside him. Lance followed, gently draping himself over Keith, using his weight to smush his boyfriend into the sheets. Keith groaned under his weight but didn’t toss him off. He easily could. Lance kissed the back of Keith’s neck, letting his lips linger.

“You like my cheesiness,” he mumbled into Keith’s hair.

“Mm, I wonder,” Keith said, sounding more and more like he wasn’t paying attention to the words. “You’re heavy.”

“You could easily throw me off of you.”

“No, it’s… nice.”

“ _ You’re _ nice,” Lance said, adding an obvious playful lilt to his words and wiggling a little, licking his lips as the atmosphere began to shift. “Very nice.” His breath hitched when Keith pressed up against him, his ass rubbing right over his groin. He returned the pressure, pushing his hips down and Keith made this amazing sound.

It resonated deep in his chest, and sounded totally involuntary.

“Lance…”

“You okay?”

“No, I--”

Lance sat up immediately, afraid he’d pushed too far and that he was wrong about everything.

“I mean yes!” Keith almost shouted, sitting up after him and grabbing for him. “It was great, actually. I was just going to say I needed… more of you.”

Lance’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline.

“Oh.”

“I’ve been so focused on and worrying about Shiro that I neglected you,” Keith said, frowning. “But what you said earlier made me realize that. And you’re right. We can wait for him together. And that doesn’t mean we have to hold ourselves back. If anything, he might be angry we put the responsibility of it onto him.”

“He might, yeah,” Lance agreed. “Either way, he definitely wouldn’t be upset if we didn’t wait for him.”

Keith didn’t respond with words, tugging Lance down with a hand to the back of his neck, and they were kissing. He pulled them back down, Lance sprawled on top of him. They had to take a moment to adjust limbs and Lance was a little surprised when Keith was the one spreading his legs, hooking one around his waist.

Lance pulled back for breath. “What do you want?”

“Well… if you’re okay with it… I want to feel you inside me.”

Lance nearly choked. Keith had asked him. He actually said it.

“A-are you sure?”

“Positive. Unless you don’t like topping?”

“No, no, topping is great. I would think, anyway. Haven’t done it yet.”

“Then get on with it,” Keith urged, pulling their hips closer and Lance could feel his erection clearly. He was harder than Lance, and that just excited him more to think that Keith wanted this just as much, if not more than he did.

“Strip.” He felt a little strange saying it, like it was an order, but Keith was eagerly complying, and soon their clothes were on the floor and their skin was touching, feverish and sweaty.

There was a brief pause as Lance figured out how to use his own slick to prepare Keith. That was probably the part he would remember the most vividly, just something about sharing it like that lit a fire in his stomach that seared him from the inside out.

Lance pressed into Keith in missionary, legs and arms clinging around him like a vice. If it hurt, Keith didn’t seem to mind it, tugging at his hair and shoving his tongue down his throat. It was a couple minutes before Lance could bring himself to move, Keith’s walls so tight and hot around him.

Keith was impatient, Lance soon realized, and once he found his prostate, he was downright greedy, asking for more, more,  _ more. _ At one point, Lance had to stop thrusting or risk coming embarrassingly fast. Keith whined, shifting his hips and making Lance’s dick rub over that spot, pressing into it steadily. Keith’s legs shook and Lance held him still, keeping the pressure where it was driving him crazy.

“Lance, gonna…” Keith whimpered, trying to shift away, but Lance held him tighter, dick pressing right up into his prostate, and he brought one hand to Keith’s leaking cock, smearing his own precum over him. Keith didn’t last long after that, spilling over Lance’s hand and onto his own abs. Lance had to bite his lip to keep from finishing inside him.

As soon as Keith became coherent again, rolling his hips on Lance’s cock, the Omega whined. “Where should I-?”

“Inside,” Keith huffed. “I can shower after, it’s fine. Plus, we’re not done.”

Lance kissed him hard, arms shaking as he held his weight and began thrusting faster than he’d done all night, burying deep before letting loose, filling Keith until they were both satisfied.

Keith caught his breath first, shoving Lance onto his back and straddling him to press kisses all over his face. Lance laughed, not having expected Keith to be so affectionate.

“You okay?” he asked, hands gently kneading Keith’s ass. He wasn’t completely sure he had done everything right, even if it seemed to be pleasurable at the time.

“I’m fucking fantastic,” Keith said, his voice a little gravelly.

“You’re  _ loud, _ ” Lance chided playfully. “Louder than with the other stuff we did.”

“I don’t see a point in holding back is all,” Keith said while sucking on Lance’s neck, sending shivers down the Omega’s spine as he pressed into his glands. His scent filled the air and Lance was almost embarrassed by it without someone else’s to accompany it. But Keith had done it on purpose, breathing it in like a drug. “Honestly, that was the best orgasm I’ve ever had.”

Lance groaned, and his fingers itched to press into Keith’s neck, to return the gesture, but Keith hadn’t liked it a few days ago, so he was unsure. Once Lance lost count of how many hickeys Keith had given him, he focused on teasing Keith’s skin, skimming his nails over taut muscle and testing his memory of the spots that had made him twitch and squirm.

Lance awarded himself a perfect score in his mind, as Keith was the first to crack impatiently, sitting up and pressing their lengths together. Lance groaned, cock still sensitive and nowhere near ready for round two yet, but the jolt of overstimulation made his toes curl and he didn’t want to stop it.

Keith pressed his weight onto Lance’s shoulders, holding him down as he continued the delicious torture. Lance had to focus on breathing, his muscles giving little spasms with each touch. The added pressure of being pinned down made his thoughts start going hazy. Sometimes he just wanted Keith to absolutely wreck him. But tonight wasn’t about that.

Lance took a deep breath and flipped them, kissing down Keith’s chest and leaving bites instead of hickeys, giving a pleased hum each time Keith twitched in pleasure. He was tempted to test bond bites, but didn’t want to risk them actually working without discussing it first, so he avoided marking his neck. He made his way down until his mouth was over Keith’s dripping cock and he set his tongue to work.

Keith’s grip was tight in his hair, but not restricting his movement any. He tested his gag reflex, taking Keith a little deeper than he’d previously been able to. When Keith began to whimper impatiently, Lance slipped a finger inside his used hole, feeling his own cum being pushed out. He was still so hot inside, twitching and clenching around him eagerly.

“Fuck, Lance,” Keith growled, sitting up on his elbows. “You ready yet?”

Lance sat up and regarded his own length, twitching and on its way to hardening again.

“I guess so,” he said with a chuckle, leaning forward to kiss Keith heatedly. “Wanna try doggy style?” Keith bit his lip a bit harshly, making Lance yelp and pull back, caressing the bruised flesh and shooting an incredulous stare at the Red Paladin. “What was that for?”

Keith just smirked at him and flipped himself over, on hands and knees, bending forward and arching his back. He was doing it on purpose and, God damn it, it was working. Lance grabbed his ass, spreading his cheeks and getting a good look at his earlier work. His cum was smeared all over, some still dripping from the hole. His cock twitched, finally ready for some more action.

He reached between his own legs, gathering what little slick had accumulated there and pumping himself a few times to coat it. Keith whined and shifted closer to him, basically telling him to hurry up. Lance huffed and got into position behind him, lining up his cock, rubbing the head around in his cum before putting pressure against the hole, but not pushing in.

Keith growled lowly, throwing him a threatening glare over his shoulder. Lance just smiled back, licking his lips.

“Come and get it if you want it,” he said and actually felt proud for sounding so in control when he was using all of his willpower to not shove into him. Keith huffed.

“Why do I love you?” he asked himself, but slowly began pushing himself back onto Lance’s dick, and once the head was in, he practically slammed all the way back. They both yelled out their pleasure, and Lance almost fell over onto Keith’s back. They were both sweaty and panting, little sounds escaping with each breath.

Lance could tell Keith was getting impatient, so before he could get yelled at, he placed his hands firmly on the hips in front of him and guided him forward as he pulled back. The first few times, one or both of them would pull too far and he’d slip out and have to guide himself back, but they eventually got the hang of it, picking up the pace.

Keith seemed to be really into this position and Lance had to admit that it was a lot easier to hit his prostate consistently this way. But Lance was quickly growing tired of not being able to see his face. He scraped his teeth along Keith’s shoulder blades, trying to bring him over the edge first. He huffed and pushed hard enough on Keith’s back to kind of lay him down on his stomach. This gave him a better chance to really put his weight on him. Keith had liked it earlier, and it was actually kind of empowering to Lance as well.

Keith had his ass angled in a way Lance wasn’t sure should be possible, but one of his hands was also beneath him, stroking himself. Once Lance was sure Keith was close, he shifted his weight onto one arm and used the other to thread his fingers into his long hair, yanking him back, forcing him to bring at least one hand forward to support him, and kissed him over his shoulder.

The angle was a little awkward, and he was glad he’d timed it right. Keith was coming undone, shivering and twitching beneath and around him, and Lance was able to let him drop back down to the mattress. He caught his breath a little before pulling out and turning Keith over, ignoring his whines in favor of kissing him from a more comfortable angle.

Keith’s arms and legs wrapped around him, keeping him close, and Lance easily slid back inside him, not worrying about going slow or shallow. Keith broke from his lips for air, and buried his face in Lance’s neck, groaning quietly as the Omega chased his orgasm. Lance lost it when Keith started pressing into his glands and mumbling about him being so  _ good _ for him, working so hard and taking such good care of him, and it was too much.

He came inside again, and he felt like he came harder and  _ more  _ than the first time, but he couldn’t be sure. Keith held him as he caught his breath, body draped limply over him, still inside but steadily going soft.

They kissed and giggled, still slightly in awe at what they’d just done. But it felt so good, they weren’t going to complain. Lance dragged Keith into the shower, but it wasn’t big enough for both of them to stand in, so they had to take turns.

“Make sure you wash out your ass hole.”

A bar of soap promptly smacked him in the back of the head.

“Ow!”

“You deserved it…. Now give that back, I need it.”

Once they were both cleaned up and ready to sleep, they changed the sheets on the bed and settled in. Keith had wedged himself up under Lance’s chin again, and he was starting to think there was a lot to be said for Kolivan’s advice. He wasn’t about to go blabbing all their personal life to the Galra, but he could definitely thank him.

“This room is going to reek of sex by the time Shiro gets back,” he mused aloud.

“You’re going to make sure of that, aren’t you?”

“I don’t see you complaining.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

As they lay in each other’s arms and Keith slowly drifted off to sleep, Lance tried to keep his heart from beating too loudly. He  _ loved  _ Keith. He had no idea if or when he would be able to tell him, but he’d finally admitted it to himself. He didn’t know if he should be happy or terrified. He was a little of both. Especially since he hadn’t reached that conclusion about Shiro yet. He desperately wanted to. But now he felt like he was kind of leaving Shiro behind, even though it was out of his control.

He didn’t get much sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a bittersweet ending, but the overall story is not over. Just this portion.
> 
> This has been... a long and wonderfully fun ride. It wound up in places I didn't intend when beginning to write, but I like where it ended up. I also look forward to trying to fit it into season 3 when it comes out.
> 
> I do plan on having some little oneshots (only one is currently planned) but I haven't started on any of them yet. So if you want to stay updated with this little AU I'll be adding it to a series, gonna try to have that situated by the time anyone reads through this, so subscribe to that for updates (or to me, either works lol).
> 
> I'm also collaborating with SecretScribbles on a Klance fic that involves a lot of music and k-pop because we love the idea of Korean Keith. We're also extremely biased toward SHINee, so that will be obvious, and if you're also a Shawol you will probably get more of any jokes and references we make. But it should be able to be enjoyed without any prior knowledge, as we will probably explain them in the notes.
> 
> Anyways, I ramble.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this fic and giving it so much love. It was kind of overwhelming at the start but I've come to realize we're all just enjoying the same things. I loved sharing this journey with you, and I can't wait for it to continue.
> 
> Be on the lookout for the artwork updates!


	14. Q&A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically me explaining the world a little bit. Feel free to ask more questions in the comments and I'll update the chapter.

**Q:** **Keith…?**

A: I’m addressing everything about Keith’s half-galra heritage, since it’s kind of the thing that made me start writing this fic in the first place. 

  1. Keith does not have a scent recognizable to humans; humans can’t find a way to categorize it. It does get stronger if he sweats, just like humans, but it’s actually not very noticable, like his BO doesn’t smell bad, just a little musky if he’s been working out. 
  2. Contrarily, his sense of smell is insane. He has better hearing, smell, and vision than the average Alpha. Nobody really knew because he’d never had to be tested for them. 
  3. I mention in passing that he can wiggle his ears involuntarily, but actually, after Shiro brought it up, he tried controlling it and he’s slowly getting the hang of it, and he can wiggle his ears (so can I lol). This is actually because I think he has _more_ muscles around the ears. Galra are used to big ears that swivel around to take in sounds, so his are at least more developed, if there aren’t extra muscles. 
  4. Keith actually had very sharp canine teeth but they were filed down (cringe) when he was younger and had braces, so they’re actually flat now. He used to bite his lips and tongue with them a lot so he doesn't miss them.
  5. Keith does not secrete the same pheromones that humans do. I mention it in the fic that even Betas have pheromones to match the ones of Omegas and Alphas, and mixing them together like in scent marking or during sex is very erotic and actually enhances the pleasure for humans. Keith doesn’t secrete them, nor does he have the proper sensory nerves in his skin to receive them. This is why his skin itches the first time Shiro scent marks him. After that first time, it only tingles as his brain begins to associate it with Shiro and pleasure, but that’s purely psychological and not biological.
  6. Some of the things Kolivan taught Lance are heavily based on the mating and hierarchical habits of rabbits: mainly, putting physical pressure over him in a physical form of dominance having a direct link to his emotional state. Doing that when Keith is overwhelmed gives him a sense of letting someone else take the responsibility, but if it were someone he wasn’t extremely close to, or if he was irritable or angry instead of just stressed, he would lash out, because it’s actually a very intimate sensation for him. It also works in the reverse, like when he tried to comfort Shiro and didn’t know what to do or say, and he just held him under his chin. He was being the assertive one in the same type of gesture. This type of thing not only influences his mood, but can easily be arousing, and as such, being held down with the whole body tends to be his favorite position, both when he’s being held down and when he’s the one doing the holding.
  7. Not sure if this is tied to rabbits or more cats, but you know those back dimples?... Super sensitive. ;)



If I think of more I might update.

 

**Q: Lance...?**

A: Here I will address the Omega dynamic and what it entails for Lance. WARNING: most of this talks about cis female genitalia a LOT so if that's uncomfortable for you, read only #s 1 & 4.

  1. Firstly, suppressants are _not_ the same thing as “the pill” is to us. All suppressants do is try to regulate the timing of heats. Most people use them simply to schedule around important events, usually only up to a week. Most of the Omega population is very regular and on a schedule much like a period. The average heat lasts 4-5 days but some Omegas have ones as short as 2 days, and some as long as a week or even more, but they usually have to see a doctor to get help, since that is abnormal and interferes with daily life and is actually very dehydrating and dangerous in smaller people, because a lot of weight is lost during a heat because of all the energy being used and fewer times to eat adequately. But there are still many Omega who are irregular and use suppressants in stronger doses and on a regular basis between heats. Birth control is an entirely different hormone, and doesn’t affect a heat, and can be used in beta women as well as all omegas. 
  2. To get into the nitty gritty of the way Lance is built “down there” I imagine it’s very similar to how a urethra and vagina are very close to each other but often times are considered part of the same thing (even though they’re not), only it’s kind of like a vaginal opening inside the anus. In fact, male Omegas are basically a mix of “traditional” male and female parts. So basically since the cervix doesn’t have a vagina to attach to, it’s attached to the anus, but it’s more like a vagina than a cervix… It’s hard to explain. It is essentially sealed off from the anus to avoid infection and grossness, but when aroused and even moreso during heat, the muscles closing it off will loosen. A penis does not physically penetrate into this opening, but semen does easily find its way there, the same as a cervix in a cis woman. 
  3. Nobody really knows their dynamic until they start to hit puberty and either let it develop on its own (risky and often only happens on accident because of early puberty) or get tested. Cis women get ultrasounds to look for ovaries: a lack of them determines an Alpha. Cis men get a blood test to look for Alpha hormones. Once Alphas are crossed off the list of possibilities, blood tests are done to look for Omega hormones. In most countries, these tests are covered by insurance, because it’s something everybody has to go through. (If only the real world worked the same.) 
  4. When Lance was younger and had his first heats, one of his Beta female cousins would help him since she was older and a nurse (and a lesbian, so nobody was worried about weird incestual stuff). She even typed up a guide book when Lance went to the Garrison, for his new roommate or whoever he wound up trusting enough to help him. 
  5. The good thing about heats is that means nobody has to deal with bloody periods. The bad thing is that because there are no periods, the building up of the uterus for a fetus happens later, after conception, and happens _fast._ That’s the main thing to warn someone of pregnancy: cramps from hell as the uterus builds up everything that usually gets flushed out in a period in time for the fertilized egg to find a spot to settle in. Imagine all the cramps of an entire period crammed into one day. 
  6. I will briefly address cis Beta women here: their physical setup is the same as cis Omega women, but it’s harder for them to conceive simply because they don’t go into heat, which opens the cervix even more than simple arousal, and they don’t have slick, which helps keep sperm alive for longer, as well as being a lubricant. So they can get pregnant, but it’s more difficult without an Alpha.



 

**Q: A/B/O?**

A: I got many comments about the fic not seeming like other a/b/o fics, and I just want to say thank you so much. I find this genre so full of unrealistic sex that’s often not very consensual, so I set out to make my own, where it was the same concept, but woven into everyday life and not too obstructive to it. How would a society with this kind of thing deal with it? What kinds of things would come about because of it? I thought about things like that.

 

**Q: Beta Readers?**

A: I was really not giving my beta readers time to edit, and that’s my fault. Most of their edits are for when wording sounds weird or fixing typos. Very rarely do they wind up changing/fixing something that would actually affect the reader’s experience. That really only happened the first time I wrote for Shiro (chapter 3), and towards the end, I wound up fleshing out a chapter (I think it was chapter 10 but I could be wrong) after the original posting.

 

**Q: Where is the art?**

A: If you haven’t had the chance to go back and look at the artwork, so far there’s artwork at the ENDS of chapters 1-3, and WITHIN 4 and 5. Or, you can visit my tumblr (sangtaedubu, tagged as “space fam” it’ll be in there somewhere along with other stuff) OR my twitter (@sangtae_dubu under my media tab, also with some other art). BUT! I think I’ll be adding a “fic” to this series that keeps all the artwork in one place and links back to the fic.

 

**Q: Baby?**

A: All I have to say is this: when they’re ready to have children there will definitely be family-making. You think Lance doesn’t want 10 million children? Haha.

 

**Q:** **What happens now?**

A: 

  1. I’m working on illustrating the whole fic, so you can look forward to those. **IF YOU HAVE A SCENE YOU REALLY WANT ILLUSTRATED LET ME KNOW AND I’LL BE SURE TO DO IT.**
  2. I can guarantee a sequel will _not_ be up very soon after season 3 comes out, because I want to sit and stew on it for a while before writing within it. Plus it gives me time to make sure this fic is finished up with illustrations and extra things taken out (my non-fic update posts, etc.). 
  3. After that, I have a side story with Pidge planned out. I might write a prequel about Lance and Hunk at the Garrison too. Maybe even some Sheith backstory, but I don’t have any specifics in mind for that one.



**Author's Note:**

> If you have questions with how the dynamics work in my mind, feel free to ask. I gave a bit of a basic biology lesson in the first chapter, but there's a lot I didn't go into for brevity's sake.
> 
> Leave a kudos or a comment! It would make my day. ;) Subscribe for updates. Check out some of my other stuff. I know I have several in-progress stories I really should be writing. Ahhh...


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